Mark Sui Nets Career-High 18 Points, But Pomona-Pitzer Takes Sixth Street Rivalry Game 73-65

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior guard Mark Sui had a career-high 18 points on 7-10 shooting but it wasn't enough as the Pomona-Pitzer men's basketball team, the preseason favorite in the SCIAC, asserted itself in the second half and captured a 73-65 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Thursday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

With the loss, the Stags see their record fall to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the SCIAC, while Pomona-Pitzer improves to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play. CMS also received 17 points from junior forward Jeremy Horn and a double-double from senior forward Nicolas Segura Dobjanschi (11 points, 12 rebounds) in the losing effort.  

CMS won all three meetings over Pomona-Pitzer in the Sixth Street Rivalry last year, including an 86-62 win in the SCIAC Championship at Roberts Pavilion. The Stags went on to fall in overtime at Whitman in the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but graduated four starters off that team, while the Sagehens returned most of their key players and were picked to win the SCIAC this year by the league's coaches. 

The difference in experience didn't show itself in the first half, as the two teams battled to a near-stalemate, with the Stags taking a 30-29 lead into the break. Pomona-Pitzer had the upper hand early, building a 13-6 lead, but Horn scored seven straight points to tie the game up 13-13, making three baskets while drawing a foul on the second one for a three-point play. The Stags then built a five-point lead at 29-24, keyed by five straight points from Segura Dobjanschi, before settling for a 30-29 lead at the half. 

The second half, though, saw the Sagehens use an early 10-0 run to turn a 32-29 deficit into a 39-32 lead, capped off by a basket from Corbin Koch with 16:12 left. Sui helped stop the bleeding with a steal at midcourt before feeding sophomore guard Mitchell Kirsch for a fast break lay-up to make the score 39-34, and the teams then alternated three straight baskets, with a jumper from junior guard Miles President closing the Pomona-Pitzer lead to five points for a fourth time at 45-40 with 12:44 remaining.

The Sagehens then used a quick 6-0 run with Micah Elan knocking down a three-pointer, followed by a conventional three-point play from Daniel Rosenbaum, to suddenly get the lead into double figures at 51-40 with 10:46 left. CMS wasn't able to sustain any momentum over the last 10 minutes to mount a comeback, as Pomona-Pitzer got its lead up to as much as 14 on a three-pointer from Adam Rees to at the 3:09 mark to make the score 67-53. A Sui three-pointer closed it to nine points (69-60) with a minute to play, before two Segura Dobjanschi foul shots closed out the scoring at 73-65. 

Rosenbaum led all scorers with 20 points for Pomona-Pitzer, while Elan had 18 points and seven rebounds. The Sagehens outscored CMS 44-35 in the second half by shooting 54.2 percent after intermission (13-24) while also hitting 16 of their 21 foul shots. CMS took excellent care of the ball, committing only seven turnovers as a team, but shot 34.8 percent (23-66), including 5-20 from three-point territory. 

CMS will be back in action on Sunday when it hosts the second half of a doubleheader with UC Santa Cruz at 5 p.m., after the CMS women take on the Banana Slugs at 3 p.m.