CMS Avenges Loss to La Verne, Stays in Tight SCIAC Regular Season Race

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Josh Angle had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and the 19th-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team avenged one of its three losses on the season with a 71-56 win over La Verne on Wednesday night at Roberts Pavilion.

Rhett Carter added 18 points and Kiran Kruse had 16 for the Stags, who move to 17-3 on the season and 9-2 in the SCIAC, staying in a tie for second place with Redlands, a half-game behind first-place Pomona-Pitzer, which defeated Chapman on Wednesday. La Verne, which edged CMS 92-88 in the first meeting on Jan. 4, slips to 6-13 overall and 3-8 in league play. 

CMS started slow and didn't take its first lead until Angle scored with 5:47 left in the half to make it a 21-19. The Stags were able to open it up from there, as Kruse knocked down a three-pointer with 45 seconds left in the half to give CMS a 35-25 lead heading into the break. 
 
The momentum carried over, as Angle hit three foul shots in the first nine seconds of the half, and Kruse knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead up to 41-25. The Stag lead peaked at 20 points at 52-32 with 15:04 left, and the Leopards could only get it as close as 12 the rest of the way. 

Brian Kenyon, who came into the game leading the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 5.4-to-1 raised it up another tick to 5.5 with a 10-assist, one-turnover effort, while adding six rebounds and four steals. He also ranks third in the country in assists per game at 7.2, after recording his fourth game in double digits this season, including 13 when he had a triple-double against Pomona-Pitzer. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Whittier for a 4 p.m. contest.