SANTA CLARITA, Calif. --- The Park University Gilbert men's basketball team (8-12, 2-6) lost to The Master's University Mustangs (14-6, 6-1) by a score of 116-99, Thursday night at the MacArthur Center in Santa Clarita, Calif.

The Buccaneers dropped the first leg of their California road trip this week against a Mustangs team that opened the season as the No. 9 ranked program in the NAIA. The 215 total points in this contest marked the highest-scoring game in Park-Gilbert's program history. In addition, Park's 99 points was also the most ever in a loss. The Bucs shot 47.4% from the field, logging the fourth-highest shooting percentage in a game this season.

Four Bucs scored at least 12 points, with guard Toate Sika scoring a career-high 36 points. Sika shot an efficient 15 of 20 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds. Guard Caleb Ivy scored 17 points, shooting 60% from the field with four rebounds. Guard Mahlik Lindsey went a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line to pair with 15 points. Guard Issac Wood scored 12 of Park's 24 bench points.

The Mustangs took a six-point lead into the halftime break as Sika scored two-thirds of his total points in the first half. The Bucs shot 50% from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play. On the other side, Avery Jackson scored 28 first-half points for The Master's.

TMU began to pull away in the second-half, stretching their largest lead of the game to 25 points with nine minutes remaining. Jackson finished with a season-high 45 points. Overall, the Mustangs shot 53% from the field and 51% from downtown.

The Bucs now fall to 0-3 all-time against The Master's since joining the Great Southwest Athletic Conference last year.

Park-Gilbert returns to the court this Saturday at 3 p.m. MST, when they take on the No. 13 ranked Hope International Royals (15-4, 5-2) at the Darling Pavilion in Fullerton, Calif.