Inside Dominance Helps CMS Men's Basketball to 65-60 Win over Occidental

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior centers Jeremy Horn (11 points, 11 rebounds) and George Walker (15 points, nine rebounds) combined for 26 points and 20 rebounds in 36 minutes to help the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team hold off Occidental for a 65-60 win on Wednesday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

Senior forward Kele Mkpado matched Walker for team-high honors with 15 points as the CMS frontcourt players combined for 44 of its 65 points, helping the Stags take over sole possession of second place in the SCIAC at 5-2 in league play (13-3 overall). Occidental, which came into the day tied with CMS for second and was led by a game-high 24 points from guard Jacob Adler, slips to 10-4 overall and 4-3 in SCIAC.

CMS finished with a 35-26 edge in the rebounding department, with Horn and Walker combining for 20, while Walker's 15 points also were a new career high, surpassing the 13 that he had on two occasions earlier this year. He says that he and Horn can provide a strong one-two punch at the five spot, which can help wear opposing teams down. 



"We complement each other well," said Walker. "With Jeremy being 6-10, he's a lot to guard inside, and with me coming off the bench, I think I play really hard and I'm just trying to go as hard as Jeremy and pick up where he leaves off. We always joke about him wearing them down and me coming in to go for the kill, and today was one of those times we were able to get that going."

The game was tight most of the way before CMS was able to create a little bit of separation in the second half and build a 12-point lead. Horn gave the Stags a 36-35 lead with a three-point play, and after a short jumper from senior guard Miles President, Mkpado knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 41-35 CMS advantage, capping a quick 8-0 run. 

First-year guard Josh Angle provided the Stags a lift off the bench with eight straight of his team's points on two three-pointers and a fast-break layup, which made the score 49-41 with 8:56 to play. Horn and junior guard Mitchell Kirsch had layups to push the lead to 53-41 with 7:47 showing on the clock. 

After an Adler three-pointer made it 55-50, Walker had four straight foul shots to get CMS back ahead by nine at 59-50 with 4:23 to go, then had a putback layup to restore a double digit lead at 61-51 at the 3:48 mark. Adler hit another three-pointer to make it a 62-58 game, and the Tigers had two three-pointers to try to cut it to one, but were unable to convert, and Walker and Kirsch finished off the win by going 3-4 at the line. 

CMS used 13 players in the game, compared to only seven for Occidental, and had a 38-14 edge in bench points behind the 15 apiece from Walker and Mkpado. Walker said that the team's depth was an important factor in the win. 

"It was huge, Josh and Kele both played really well," said Walker. "They made some big plays down the stretch when they were in that really helped us. Especially against a team with seven kids playing, coming off the bench with high energy guys really helps us in games like this."

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts La Verne for a 2 p.m. contest (note: the game was originally scheduled for 5 p.m., but was moved up due to the CMS Hall of Fame Dinner in the evening).