Men’s Basketball
The basketball team beat Vanguard University 85-76 in its regular-season finale Saturday night in Costa Mesa.
The win improved No. 14 TMU’s record to 23-4 overall and 12-4 in Golden State Athletic Conference play.
Lawrence Russell led all scorers by notching a career-high 24 points. Four other Mustangs scored in double digits as Delewis Johnson and Travis Yenor both scored 17 points, Reid Shackelford tallied 14 points, and Hansel Atencia posted 11 more.
This Friday, TMU will compete in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 GSAC Tournament. The Mustangs are slated to play Arizona Christian at 5:00 p.m. on the campus of Westmont College in Santa Barbara.
On Tuesday, Shackelford and Russell were named to the 2016-17 Men’s Basketball All-GSAC Team presented by Under Armour.
Shackelford led the Mustangs in scoring and finished second in the GSAC at 16.9ppg. The sharpshooting senior guard drained a school-record 10 3-pointers vs. Embry-Riddle (AZ) on November 11, 2016 en route to a career-high 51 points. His 85 3-pointers were second-best in the conference and represented the seventh best single-season mark in program history.
Russell, who was also named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, may have been the club’s top all-around performer. The junior transfer paced the club in rebounding (7.8rpg, second in the GSAC), assists (4rpg, third in the GSAC), and steals (1.9spg, second in the GSAC). Russell scored a season-high 24 points vs. Vanguard on February 25 and pulled down a season-best 12 rebounds on three occasions while recording a team-best 10 double-doubles.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team closed its regular season schedule with a 67-47 loss to Vanguard University, the fourth-ranked team in the NAIA.
Saturday’s loss snapped an eight-game winning streak and moved No. 19 TMU’s record to 20-7 overall and 10-6 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. Vanguard, the regular-season conference champion, improved to 26-2 (15-1 GSAC).
Hannah Ostrom led TMU in scoring with 12 points while Bianca Cubello and Aubrey Bekendam both grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
This weekend, the Mustangs will compete in the 2017 GSAC Tournament. TMU enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will take on the No. 5 seed Arizona Christian University Firestorm in the quarterfinal round at 7:30 p.m. on Bross Court.
On Tuesday, Cubello and Megan Lindsley were named to the Women’s Basketball All-GSAC Team presented by Under Armour for the third year in a row.
Cubello finished the regular season slate posting team highs of 13 ppg and 8.5 rpg while leading the conference in free throw percentage (82.7%) and blocked shots (62). Playing all 27 games, she scored in double figures 21 times and notched eight double-doubles.
Lindsley averaged 9.5 ppg and was second on the team with 35 3-pointers. She tallied in double figures 14 times, scoring a season-high 21 points at Arizona Christian on December 10, 2016.
Baseball
After sweeping William Jessup University over the weekend but falling to the University of Antelope Valley 10-1 on Tuesday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium, TMU baseball’s overall record moved to 10-11 (4-5 GSAC).
Based on his performance against William Jessup, TMU’s Aaron Alexander was named GSAC Pitcher of the Week after picking up two of the four wins posted by the Mustangs last week, one in relief and the other as a starter in a dominating performance.
Last Tuesday, he notched his third win of the season after he hurled 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief in a 2-1, walk-off victory over Corban of Oregon.
On Saturday, in the first game of a doubleheader against William Jessup, Alexander (4-1) struck out a career-high 13 batters and threw a complete-game seven-hitter in a 4-1 victory.
TMU pitching ace Jason Karkenny became the winningest pitcher in program history. On Saturday, he recorded his second win (2-1) of the season, and with it, his 32nd career victory, breaking the old record set by A.J. Work (2010-13).
The Mustangs will host St. Katherine this weekend for a three-game series. Friday’s game will begin at 2:30 p.m., while Saturday’s doubleheader will start at 11 a.m.
Golf
From Feb. 27-28, TMU golf hosted its annual home tournament, the TMU Spring Invitational, on the greens of the Robinson Ranch Golf Course.
After three rounds, the Mustangs finished eighth out of 14 teams with a final score of 855 (282-284-289).
Josh Delo continued his outstanding junior campaign by tying for fifth overall after carding a final score of 207 (68-68-71). Joseph Downey complemented Delo’s efforts by tying for 16th at 211 (68-70-73), while Samuel Esienhuth tied for 38th at 220 (72-73-75).
Next up for the Mustangs is the Battle at Primm. The tournament will take place March 20-21 on the links of the Primm Valley Golf Course in Primm, Nev.
Men’s Track & Field
Last Saturday, the men’s track and field team competed at the Rossi Relays.
In the 3,000m, Joshua Sherfey paced TMU by finishing 14th overall at 8 minutes and 45.92 seconds, while Alec Franco finished close behind with a final time of 8:54.55, setting a new personal best.
Noah Frizzell finished the men’s high jump by placing ninth overall by clearing 1.73 meters in his flight.
Max Hudson made Mustang track & field history by becoming the first TMU male athlete to clear a height in the pole vault event. Hudson placed 20th by clearing 3.36 meters.
Two Mustang squads also competed in the 4,000m distance medley and posted times of 10:45.70, and 11:06.32, respectively.
The Mustangs will next compete at the Ben Brown Invitational on March 11 in Fullerton.
Women’s Track & Field
On Saturday, the women’s track and field team posted strong marks at the Rossi Relays.
In the 100 meter dash, Tess Thompson placed 37th overall in by finishing the event in 13.55 seconds, setting a new personal best along the way.
In the 3,000m, Rachael Ingoldsby finished in 10:49.89, also setting a new personal best.
Collectively, TMU posted a final time of 12:32.14 and placed fifth overall in the 4,000m Distance Medley.
Next up for the Mustangs is the Ben Brown Invitational on March 11 in Fullerton.
Swimming & Dive
Last Tuesday, The Master’s University announced that it will launch its first-ever swimming and diving program in the fall.
Gabe Woodward, bronze medalist in the 4×100 meter freestyle at the 2004 Olympics, All-American swimmer and 2001 graduate of USC, joins The Master’s University as the Aquatics Director.
In its inaugural season, the team will train at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center along with other aquatic facilities in the Santa Clarita Valley.
TMU will soon be making its official application to become a member of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference – a swimming-only conference comprised of NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA institutions in the southwestern United States.
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