Master’s Gives Bakersfield Best Shot

On a night when he was hitting shots from all over the court, Mike Penberthy’s biggest basket against Cal State Bakersfield was his ugliest.

The Master’s College point guard hit a 26-foot fadeaway jump shot as time expired at the end of the first half to cut the Mustangs’ deficit to six points at intermission, but it was a three-point shot from the right corner with 10 minutes 20 seconds left in the game that proved decisive in a 78-67 nonconference victory over the previously undefeated Roadrunners.

Penberthy’s sixth three-pointer gave Master’s a 53-49 lead, but Bakersfield’s Michael Jackson scored at the other end to cut the Roadrunners’ deficit to two.

Back came Master’s as Penberthy took a pass off an inbounds play and launched a shot that bounced on the rim three times before finally falling through. The shot gave Master’s a 56-51 lead and Bakersfield didn’t draw closer than three points after that.

“Those two shots were just luck, plain and simple,” said Penberthy, who scored 32 points. “I didn’t plan them that way but I’ll take them. . . . This is a great win for us. I’d say it’s the greatest win of my career since I’ve been here.”

The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Mustangs (14-4) and their first in 10 tries against Bakersfield (13-1), the No. 4-ranked team in the NCAA Division II poll.

The Roadrunners led by as many as eight in the first half, but Penberthy’s shot at the end of the half seemed to slow their momentum.

Master’s took its first lead of the second half when Penberthy hit a 17-foot jump shot to give the Mustangs a 46-45 lead with 14:17 left. Bakersfield retook the lead on another basket by Jackson, but Master’s went on a 12-4 run to take a 58-51 lead with 8:35 remaining.

Bakersfield twice pulled to within three points after that but Master’s forward James Mosley hit a pair of free throws with 5:23 left to give the Mustangs a 62-57 lead and Master’s was on its way to one of its biggest victories of Coach Bill Oates’ three seasons at the school.

“I think the key was that we just kept after them,” Oates said. “We stayed persistent. I told the guys at halftime that we just had to keep going after it and we’d be all right.”

Mosley had 18 points for the Mustangs and Leo Gorauskas added 13 points and nine rebounds. Gorauskas and Reggie Robinson combined to hold Kebu Stewart to nine points on two-of-six shooting.

“We were able to keep Kebu from getting a lot of shots and that was key,” Penberthy said. “Basically, if he gets the ball inside he’s going to score but we did a good job of limiting his shots.”

Stewart missed six of eleven free throws.