Gorauskas Sets Pace as Master’s Runs Past Plodding Dominican

It came as no surprise when the Master’s College men’s basketball team came out running to start the second half of the championship game of the NAIA Far West Region Independents tournament on Tuesday night.

But the fact that Leo Gorauskas was the one frequently converting baskets on the end of several fastbreaks came as a bit of a shock in the Mustangs’ 95-75 victory over Dominican.

Gorauskas is a fine post player who has improved his mobility by leaps and bounds this season, but at 6 feet 9 inches and 240 pounds, the junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, doesn’t usually beat teammates such as James Mosley and Mike Penberthy down the floor.

Yet Gorauskas was the one who dribbled the ball the length of the court before dishing the ball to Mosley for a layup and a 61-41 Master’s lead with 13 minutes 34 seconds left in the game.

Shortly before that, Gorauskas had scored 11 consecutive points for the Mustangs as they extended a 43-30 lead with 19 minutes left in the game into a 54-38 advantage with 15:18 remaining.

“We just decided to try to run the ball more in the second half,” said Gorauskas, who scored 23 points and was 10 of 10 from the field. “We didn’t get many fastbreaks in the first half.”

The victory was the eighth in a row for Master’s (27-6) and gave the Mustangs a berth in the NAIA Division I playoffs for the third year in a row.

The pairings for the 32-team tournament, which starts Tuesday at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla., will be released Thursday night.

“It’s kind of like, been there, done that,” Gorauskas said. “But you always want to improve. There’s always room for improvement.”

Master’s Coach Bill Oates, who has an 86-16 record during his three seasons at the school and guided the Mustangs to the NAIA quarterfinals last year, agreed with Gorauskas.

“We’re just excited to be going back there,” he said. “We know that every game is going to be tough so you can’t overlook anyone. But I think having been there in the previous two years will help us. We’ll know what to expect.”

Although the Mustangs led, 40-28, at halftime against Dominican (20-10), they appeared to be somewhat frazzled by the Penguins’ physical man-to-man defense. The Mustangs committed nine turnovers and although they went to the foul line often, they made only nine of 17 attempts.

Gorauskas, who had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, was one of three Master’s players to score in double figures.

Mosley had 24 points to go with 10 rebounds, and Penberthy had 17 points and five assists.

Miguel Villegas had 16 points for Dominican.