Down 2 big men itself – 6-foot-8 center Brice Prather (knee injury) and 6-foot-5 Spencer Foster (academically ineligible) – the Cougars gave a gallant effort for about 10 minutes. Colton Cornfoot made 4 of his first 5 shots, including a trio of treys, and Azusa Pacific scooted out to a 16-11 lead 8 minutes into the game.
However, The Master’s switched its defensive scheme, put a different man of Cornfoot and then went to work, cleaning the glass, running the floor and nailing deep jumpers. Ryan Read buried 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 23 points. His backcourt mate Joe Deister drained 4 3-pointers to keep the Cougar defense on the move and account for all 12 of his points. In the meantime, 6-foot-8 Chris Sanders, 6-foot-7 Caleb Adcock and 6-foot-7 Lavar Simmons controlled the paint, combining for 43 points and 18 of The Master’s 40 rebounds (TMC out-rebounded Azusa Pacific, 40-20). In a word, the Cougars were dominated.
Read scored 10 points during a 19-3 Mustang run late in the first half that turned a 31-30 deficit into a 49-34 cushion. He banged home a pair of 3-pointers while Sanders added another, all part of a 12-for-19 shooting The Master’s showcased from downtown.
Azusa Pacific trailed 49-36 at halftime and could get no closer than 10 at 63-53 in the second half. At that point, TMC reeled off another run to move out to a 21-point lead at 87-66 following a Read lay-up.
After the defensive switch, Cornfoot never threatened again, going 1-for-13 the rest of the game. He finished with 14 points, 11 of which came in the first 5 minutes of the game. Lance Soderberg, the only Cougar over 6-foot-5, recorded 15 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman Mike Hornbuckle tallied 12 points.
The 28-point loss is the Cougars’ biggest margin of defeat since a 29-point setback to Utah in 1999 and the worst GSAC loss since a 35-point loss to Westmont in 1989.
With the victory, The Master’s improves to 8-3 overall, 2-0 in the GSAC. Azusa Pacific falls to 9-5 overall, 1-2 in the GSAC.
