Balanced Offense Leads CMS Men's Basketball to 67-55 Road Win at UC Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Senior forward Maxwell Kirsch scored 12 points, including eight in a span of 1:38 early in the second half, to lead a balanced offensive attack as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team earned a 67-55 road win over UC Santa Cruz on Friday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

With the win, CMS improves its record to 4-2 on the young season, bouncing back from a loss in the final seconds to Pomona-Pitzer two days ago. UC Santa Cruz falls to 3-5 with the loss.

Kirsch got eight of his points in a quick flurry to start the second half to give CMS a 13-point lead. He knocked down a three-pointer with 16:47 left to put the Stags ahead by ten for the first time at 38-28, answered a Banana Slug basket with a lay-up with 16:20 left and then knocked down a three-pointer with 15:09 to go to make the score 43-30.

UC Santa Cruz was able to withstand the quick flurry and got the lead down to six points at 51-45 with 9:32 to go, and had the ball for two possessions with the chance to come even closer. Senior Kele Mkpado, though, came through with five straight points for the Stags on a three-pointer and a lay-up to get the lead back up to 56-45. Junior Chukwueloka Oti answered a UC Santa Cruz three-pointer with a basket, and sophomore forward TJ Askew hit two foul shots to make it a 60-48 lead with 6:01 to go, and the Banana Slugs were never able to get the lead back down to single figures the rest of the way.

CMS never trailed after using a 5-0 run to take an early 9-4 lead after a three-pointer from junior guard Mitchell Kirsch. The Banana Slugs got back within two points twice, the second at 23-21 with 2:52 left in the half, but senior guard Miles President made a lay-up off a Kirsch pass and senior guard JD Levine knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 28-21 game.

After UC Santa Cruz cut it to 28-24 in the final minute, CMS went coast-to-coast in four seconds, with Mitchell Kirsch getting a three-point play with .3 seconds left to give the Stags a 31-24 lead at the break.

Maxwell Kirsch was the only member of the Stags in double figures, as CMS used strong balance and good efficiency to shoot 50 percent from the floor (25-50). Mitchell Kirsch finished with nine points on 2-3 shooting, while Mkpado had eight points on 3-4 shooting. Avri Finch led all scorers for UC Santa Cruz with 18 points, but the Banana Slugs shot just 36.5 percent from the floor (19-52) and 27.8 percent from three (5-18).

CMS will conclude its two-game road trip to the Bay Area tomorrow when it travels to Vallejo to face Cal Maritime for a 7 p.m. contest.