CMS Men's Basketball Outlasts No. 21 Redlands in Overtime 99-93

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team played from behind for most of regulation, but came through with a 99-93 overtime win over No. 21 Redlands in a big SCIAC contest on Wednesday night at Roberts Pavilion.

With the win, CMS moves to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in the SCIAC, while Redlands, which has four non-conference wins over nationally ranked teams, slips to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Josh Angle (26 points), Will Householter (24 points) and Rhett Carter (21 points, 12 rebounds) all finished with over 20 points, while James Frye nearly had a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Caelan Jones added 14 points, shooting 4-5 from three-point territory in the second half and overtime, as the five CMS starters combined for all 99 points. 

CMS had a chance to win it at the buzzer after Kendrick Currey split two at the line with seven seconds left to tie it for Redlands at 80-80. Householter, a first-year guard who set a new career high with his 24 points, including 19 on 8-10 shooting in the first half, was forced by the Bulldog defense into a tough runner from the right side of the paint as time expired and wasn't able to connect. 

The Stags seized control in overtime, as Angle found Carter for a layup on the first possession to give CMS a lead it would never relinquish. Carter made two foul shots, and after the Bulldogs closed to within 84-82, Jones hit a three off an Angle feed, and Angle followed with a pull-up three to make it 90-82 with 2:44 left. 

Redlands had one final push as it cut the lead to 90-84 and forced a turnover, but missed two three-pointers to potentially cut the lead in half, and the Stags were able to make nine foul shots down the stretch to hold on for the win. 

Redlands built a double-digit lead in the first half and held a 49-40 advantage at the break, as Householter had a huge performance in the first 20 minutes to keep the Stags afloat. CMS then regrouped at intermission and clawed back in it in the second half, as Angle hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 59-59 with 14:06 to go. The Stags had numerous chances to take the lead with the ball and the score tied, before Redlands used a 9-2 run to pull back ahead 68-61. 

CMS withstood the counterpunch, though, and Jones knocked down another big three with 2:57 left to cut the deficit to 76-75. Angle then found Frye for a backdoor layup with 2:13 to go to give CMS its first lead of the second half. Redlands took the lead back on a pair of Currey foul shots, but Householter put the Stags back in front with 1:25 left on a lay-up when he picked up his dribble outside the right side of the paint, had all of his passing angles shut down, and instead caught the Redlands defense by surprise by spinning back to the basket and scooping in a tough shot in traffic. 

The Stags finished with a 48-35 advantage in rebounding, led by 12 apiece from Frye and Carter. The Stags, who played only seven players, also had to withstand relentless fullcourt pressure from Redlands the whole way, with Angle playing all 45 minutes, Householter 43 and Frye 41. Currey led all scorers with 28 for Redlands, but was held to 8-23 shooting from the floor. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday, when it hosts Caltech at 2 p.m.