Kirsch Brothers Lead Stags Over Beavers In Regular Season Finale

PASADENA, Calif. - On Tuesday night, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a 75-68 victory over the Caltech Beavers. With the 2017-18 SCIAC Championship and top-seed in the SCIAC Tournament already locked up, the Stags used the game to showcase their depth and the talent of their bench.

Brothers, Maxwell Kirsch (CMC) and Mitchell Kirsch (CMC) led the way for the Stags with 17 and 16 points respectively. Mitchell finished just shy of a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds to go along with his 16 points. Maxwell grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists. The brothers combined to go a perfect 15-15 from the free throw line.

The Stags started the contest with a pair of buckets from Andrew Maddock (CMC) in the first 2:33 to take a 4-1 lead. The hot start for Maddock was part of a 13-point performance for the senior, his most points in a Stags' uniform.

A layup from Mark Sui (CMC), jumper from Maxwell Kirsch, and three from Mitchell Kirsch continued the Stags' strong start and gave CMS an 11-1 lead less than five minutes into the game.

Caltech scored seven of the next nine points to close the gap to five points at 13-8. Just a few minutes later, Ryan Kusch (HMC) knocked down a three to pump the CMS lead back to nine points at 17-8.

Following a layup from Jeremy Horn (CMC) with 1:45 remaining in the half, the Stags remained ahead by nine points at 31-22. Over the finally 1:37, the Beavers ended the half on a 6-0 run and the Stags took a slim, 31-28 lead into the break.

The Stags started the half on a 14-3 run to open up their largest lead of the game at 45-31. During the run, five different players scored and Maxwell Kirsch led the way with a pair of threes. Caltech quickly countered with an 8-0 run to trim the CMS lead down to six points at 45-39.

Over the next three and a half minutes, the Beavers continued to close the gap and eventually tied the game at 52-52 with 8:02 remaining. A Maddock free throw and a layup from Kusch gave CMS a three-point lead a minute later, but the game remained close for the remainder of the game. After a Sam Gavin (CMC) layup with 2:31 remaining, the Stags led by seven. Less than 30 seconds later, Marcus Gee knocked down a three for Caltech and the CMS lead was trimmed down to just four points.

With the shot clock winding down two possessions later, Ryan Kusch hit a back-breaking three to give the Stags a 66-59 lead with under a minute remaining.

Free throws down the stretch, clinched the 75-68 victory for CMS.

The Stags finish the regular season with an overall record of 17-7 (15-1 in the SCIAC) and have not lost a game in 2018. CMS has now rattled off 14 victories in a row and will next take the court in the SCIAC Tournament Semifinals when they host Chapman on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Roberts Pavilion.