Master’s musters motivation for win
- Updated: March 13, 2021
Kaleb Lowery played his freshman year of high school basketball at Foothills Christian.
2021 SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN HAWKS MEN’S BASKETBALL
THE MASTER’S 73, SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN 51
ECS staff report
SANTA CLARITA – San Diego Christian College carried the momentum from its second men’s basketball victory of the season into the first half of Saturday’s (Mar. 13) The Master’s Tournament championship game.
The Hawks, which rode a 43-point effort by senior Teyden Gause to claim Friday’s semifinals triumph over Bethesda University, kept making shots against the host Mustangs to grab a shocking 28-26 halftime lead for a 20-win opponent.
However, The Master’s was finally able to lasso SDCC in the second half, capping the season with a 73-51 decision at MacArthur Center.
Although no official all-tournament team was named, the media tabbed Gause as the event’s most valuable player as the only member of the Hawks to be honored.
Gause, who posted the best individual scoring total by any Golden State Athletic Conference player.on Friday, didn’t even need to shoot in the first half when the Hawks held the advantage at the intermission.
In his final game for the Hawks, the senior only needed to tally four points in the first half. The slack was picked up by Chris Dean and Cameron Dashiell, who both came off the bench to tally seven points each, while Jermaine Camacho-Small and Greg Chew chipped in with four each.
But in the second half, the production of the others dried out, forcing Gause to carry the ballclub. He posted 12 points to finish with 16 — right around his scoring average — but The Master’s (21-5 overall) collected a 47-23 second-half margin to complete a season sweep of the Hawks (2-16). Included was 6-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.
For the Mustangs, freshman forward Kaleb Lowery led all players with 23 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
Caden Starr, the son of TMU head coach Kelvin Starr (the 2017-188 NAIA national coach of the year and former SDCC head coach), finished an assist shy of a triple-double, recording 15 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Gavin DeJong added 14 points and five rebounds, while Davian Brown pitched in 11 points and five assists.
For the Hawks, Dashiell and Camacho finished with nine points each, while Kyle Ruiz garnered a team-best four assists. As a club, SDCC also posted a season-low five turnovers.
Along with Gause, San Diego Christian will say good-bye to seniors Camacho-Small, Ruiz, JaMario Harris and Riley Blea.
