Jeremy Horn's Career-High 28 Points Lift CMS Men's Basketball Past Gustavus Adolphus

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior forward Jeremy Horn set a new career-high with 28 points and added 10 rebounds as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team earned a 77-67 win over Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

With the win, CMS improves to 7-2 on the season with its fourth straight victory, while Gustavus Adolphus falls to 3-6 on the year. 

Horn scored his 28 points on 13-21 shooting from the floor and 2-2 shooting from the line, surpassing his previous career best of 24 points, set earlier this year against Pacific (Ore.). That game, though, saw Horn get most of his points as the beneficiary of CMS breaking the Pacific non-stop fullcourt pressure in a 114-92 win, but his 28 points in this game were the result of the Stags executing in the halfcourt offense. 

"My guards were able to put me in positions where I didn't have to dribble or think much," Horn said. "They also weren't super quick to guard me, so I had my space and my time to shoot."



CMS came out on fire after a nine-day layoff, jumping out to a 21-5 lead early, but the Stags had to fight off a couple of Gustavus Adolphus comeback attempts. In the first half, the Gusties used a pair of 6-0 runs to get thte 16-point deficit down to four points at 33-29 with 3:16 left, before CMS answered with a 10-0 run to end up taking a 43-31 lead into halftime. 

The 10-0 run started as first-year point guard Brian Kenyon found junior guard Mitchell Kirsch for a three-pointer, and the next play, the duo did the same thing in reverse with Kirsch driving and kicking to Kenyon in the right corner for a three-pointer to quickly get the lead back to double digits at 39-29. Kirsch assisted senior forward George Walker on a layup to push the lead to 12, and Horn hit a jumper with 49 seconds left to cap the 10-0 run before Jake Guse hit a basket to pull the Gusties within 12 at the break. 

A Horn layup with 16:52 to go gave CMS its largest lead of the night at 50-35, and the Stags still led by 13 (65-52) on another Horn basket with 8:32 left before the Gusties had one final comeback effort to close to within five points at 69-64.

Gustavus Adolphus then missed two shots with a chance to come even closer, before CMS used a little of deja vu to start a closing run, with Maxwell Kirsch finding Mitchell Kirsch on a backdoor cut to push the lead to 71-64 with 2:27 to play. In the last game for the Stags, the two brothers connected on the same type of play for the winning basket with seven seconds left in a 67-66 victory over Chicago on Dec. 20. This time the stakes weren't as high, but the play stemmed the Gusties' momentum and kick-started a 6-0 run down the stretch. Maxwell Kirsch had two foul shots with 1:45 to go to push the lead to nine, and senior guard Miles President drove for a layup with 1:09 left to get the lead back into double figures at 75-64. 

Horn was the only player in double figures for CMS, as Maxwell Kirsch had nine, and Mitchell Kirsch and President each had seven. Horn's 10 rebounds led a dominant effort on the glass, as the Stags finished with a 42-21 rebounding edge, while holding Gustavus Adolphus to only one offensive rebound on 27 missed field goals. 

"That was the first thing that (head coach Ken Scalmanini) said in the locker room when we got in," said Horn of the one offensive rebound allowed. "That is a 'whole team' stat. From the point guard to the center, everyone has to box out and rebound." 

CMS will be back in action tomorrow when it concludes non-conference play with a home game against Lake Forest, beginning at 7 p.m.