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CMS Men's Basketball Drops 84-75 Decision to No. 4 Whitman

CMS Men's Basketball Drops 84-75 Decision to No. 4 Whitman

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior forward Nicolas Segura Dobjanschi (25 points, 12 rebounds) and junior forward Jeremy Horn (10 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles to keep the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team close against No. 4 Whitman, but the Blues were able to hold off the Stags and take an 84-75 win on Friday evening at Roberts Pavilion on the first day of the David Wells Classic.

The game was a rematch of an NCAA Second Round game played last season at Whitman, which the Blues captured in overtime, although the Stags (1-2) graduated four of their five starters off last year's team, as well as two of their top reserves. Whitman (4-0) got 20 points off the bench from Darne Duckett and had 32 points off turnovers, compared to 10 for CMS. 

Whitman led by 10 at the half (46-36), but the Stags came out strong after intermission and got the lead all the way down to two points at 48-46 on a pair of Segura Dobjanschi foul shots. The Blues, though, came right back with a 12-2 run to push the lead back up to 12, which was started by a three-point play from Ben Beatie, and ended on a three-pointer from Jack Stewart with 13:09 left, making the score 60-48. 

Segura Dobjanschi hit two more foul shots with 10:10 to go to bring the Stags within 64-55, but couldn't come closer than nine points the rest of the way. Over the last 10 minutes, the Whitman lead vacillated between 10 and 14 points, except for a brief 16-point lead at 82-66 on a Duckett three-pointer. The Stags cut it nine with the next seven points, capped off by a three-pointer from freshman guard Charles Meng with 1:20 to play, but Duckett hit two foul shots to stop the run and prevent CMS from getting in striking distance in the final minute. 

The early part of the game saw the two teams go toe-to-toe, with junior guard Miles President putting the Stags ahead 11-9 at the first media timeout with a jumper. A lay-up from sophomore guard Jack Peterson gave CMS a 15-12 lead, but Whitman took the lead for good on an Austin Butler steal and breakaway dunk to make it 16-15. Duckett made two foul shots to cap off a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 25-17, and after Segura Dobjanschi and Horn had consecutive baskets to close to within 25-21, the Blues went on an 8-2 run to build their first double-digit lead at 33-23, and maintained that 10-point lead heading into the break. 

Segura Dobjanschi shot 8-15 from the floor and 9-11 from the line on his way to setting a new career high in scoring with 25 points, passing his previous high of 17. He also picked up his second double-double of the year after beginning the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Chicago at the Midway Classic. Horn, who just missed double-doubles with nine rebounds in each of the first two games, got his first one with 10 points and 10 boards in the loss to Whitman, helping CMS to a dominant 48-33 rebounding advantage. President also was in double figures for CMS with 11 points on the day. 

Whitman had a balanced offense, led by the 20 from Duckett off the bench. Joey Hewitt chipped in 15 points while Butler had a solid all-around floor game with 12 points, five rebounds and seven assists. 

CMS will be back in action when it travels across the street to take on Willamette on the second day of the David Wells Classic, at Pomona-Pitzer's Voelkel Gymnasium.