CMS Men's Basketball Uses Big Second Half to Pull Away From Willamette

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Junior forward Jeremy Horn had 17 points on 6-8 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds, and the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team used a 32-13 second half to take control and capture a 70-43 win over Willamette in the final game of the Wells Classic on Saturday afternoon.

The Stags (2-2) evened their overall record and split (1-1) their two games in the David Wells Classic with a 17-point victory over the Willamette Bearcats (0-4) on Saturday afternoon. Horn followed up his SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week honor from last week with another offensive onslaught scoring a team-leading 17 points on 6-8 shooting from the field as well as making five of his six free-throws. Horn was joined by Nicolas Segura Dobjanschi, who shot 7-12 from the field and finished with 16 points, and Miles President was the third Stag that finished in double-digit scoring with 13 points (5-12) for the game. 

CMS finished the first half with a 38-30 lead after Segura Dobjanschi and Horn scored 11 and 10 points respectively in the period. The Stags shot 45.7 percent from the field during the opening 20 minutes and 3-10 from three-point range, making all three of their free-throws in the half.

In the second half, the Stags put the game out of reach for Willamette outscoring the Bearcats 24-6 through the 4:37 mark to extend their lead to 62-36. Horn has scored in double-digits in each of the Stags four games and has shot 59.0 percent from the field during that time with a season-high of 20 points against Springfield on Nov. 18. 

It marked the second double-double of the season for Horn, his previous coming in the first game of the Wells Classic on Friday, Nov. 23 against Whitman, when he scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss. President scored in double-digits for the third time in four games this season, shooting 47.1 percent from the field overall and averaging 10.8 points per game. 

Overall, the Stags outshot the Bearcats 45.0 to 26.5 percent from the field and got to work on the boards collecting more rebounds by a 51-24 margin. The largest lead was 30 by CMS at the 3:14 mark of the second half and Willamette led by just two at 18:55 in the first half. CMS made 10-13 (76.9%) from the free-throw line and Willamette flushed 12-18 (66.7%) from the stripe. 

Mark Sui added seven points on 3-6 shooting, Mitchell Kirsch scored seven points as well on 2-7 from the field. Maxwell Kirsch scored six points over nine minutes off the bench. The 13 points allowed in the second half was the lowest point total that the Stags have held an opponent to this season. 

The Stags are back in action this week when they host West Coast Baptist on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m. CMS Men's basketball opens SCIAC play on Thursday, Dec. 6 against Pomona-Pitzer at Roberts Pavilion.