Penberthy Displays Masterstroke, 72-64

Mike Penberthy fired in eight three-point baskets and scored 30 points to lead the Master’s College to a 72-64 victory over Claflin, S.C., in the first round of the NAIA men’s basketball tournament Wednesday in the Mabee Center.

The third-seeded Mustangs (28-6) will meet three-time champion Oklahoma City in the second round at 12:15 p.m. PST today.

Oklahoma City (28-6) routed St. Xavier of Chicago, 94-58, Wednesday.

Leo Gorauskas collected 19 points and 10 rebounds for Master’s while James Mosley added 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Master’s had things under control most of the way. The Mustangs shook off a slow start and surged to a 34-25 halftime lead.

Penberthy’s last three-pointer gave the Mustangs a 67-55 lead with 3:39 left.

Claflin (18-12) reeled off eight consecutive points to trim the margin to 67-63 with 1:44 left.

Mosley’s tip-in with 51 seconds left upped the margin to 69-63 and Matt Kordik scored his only points on a layup and a free throw to make it 72-63 with 3.4 seconds left.

“Claflin had good athletes and a good team,” said Bill Oates, Master’s coach. “They made their free throws [20 of 28] and that allowed them to stay in the game.

“Our offense didn’t flow very well today. We usually have five or six guys who give us scoring support. This wasn’t like us at all today.”

Penberthy sank eight of 13 three-point shots, his second-best effort of the season. He hit nine in an 80-76 loss to Hawaii Pacific on Feb. 3.

The tournament record for three-pointers is 10 by Greg Sutton of Oral Roberts against Georgetown, Ky., in 1990.

This is Master’s third consecutive trip to the national tournament. The Mustangs lost in the first round in 1994 and reached the quarterfinals a year ago.

“You have to play a real solid game to win in this tournament,” Penberthy said. “We are so much more relaxed now that we’ve played here before.

“We forced some shots and had a lot of turnovers [16] today.”

Ronnie Morant had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Claflin while Terrence Scriven added 12 points.

The Master’s-Oklahoma City game shapes up as one of the best of the second round. Oklahoma City outscored St. Xavier, 53-20, in the second half.