CMS Men's Basketball Comes Back From 19 Down to Defeat Linfield 79-72

CLAREMONT, Calif. - TJ Askew had a career-high 23 points and Josh Angle had 17 of his 21 in the second half as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team came back from a 38-19 first-half deficit and earned a 79-72 win over Linfield on the second day of the David Wells Classic at Roberts Pavilion.

Rhett Carter (12 points, nine rebounds) and Matt Meredith (10 points, nine rebounds) were both one board shy of double-doubles for the Stags, who improve to 3-1 with the win. Linfield, which also let a double-digit lead get away in an overtime loss to Pomona-Pitzer yesterday, falls to 2-2 with the defeat. 

CMS closed out the first half on an 11-0 run to make it a more manageable 38-30 at the half. Brian Kenyon jump-started the run with a two-point basket and a three-pointer, and Meredith closed it out when he got an offensive rebound off a missed foul shot and put it back in at the buzzer. 

The Stags started out the second half with the same momentum, as Askew found Carter underneath the basket for a layup to make it a 13-0 run and cut the Linfield lead to six. The Wildcats held off the run temporarily and still led 42-34 before Angle hit three-pointers on three straight possessions in a span of 1:09 to give CMS a 43-42 lead and cap off a 24-4 run spanning both halves. 

The game settled in as a close one for a while after CMS completed the comeback, before an 8-0 run gave the Stags a seven-poitn lead. Kiran Kruse nailed a three-pointer with 11:54 left to put the Stags ahead for good 54-53, and Meredith had five straight points on a three-point play and a steal and fast break layup to give CMS a 60-53 lead. 

Linfield had one more run in it, though, and clawed back to within 62-61 with 6:57 left. The teams exchanged baskets for the next two minutes and the Wildcats had one chance to take the lead, but missed an elbow jumper, and Askew converted a three-point play at the other end to push the lead to four with 4:47 left.

With the lead back down to three, Angle stepped in and stole an outlet pass, then buried a jumper from the left elbow to stretch the lead to 71-66 with 4:02 left. After CMS earned a stop, Angle drove and hit a pull-up jumper from the right elbow to make it a seven-point lead. 

Two straight threes had the Wildcats back within 75-72 with 1:31 to go, but Askew was fouled shooting a three at the end of the shot clock and made all three to seal the win. 

CMS finished with a 46-37 rebounding advantage, led by the nine apiece from Carter and Meredith. Angle also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals to go with his 21 points, while Askew had seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. 

The Stags will be back in action this week for two home SCIAC games, taking on La Verne on Wednesday night at 7 p.m., and then battling Pomona-Pitzer in the first of two Sixth Street Rivalry games on Saturday at 5 p.m.