CMS Men's Basketball Pulls Away from La Verne for 81-58 Win in SCIAC Opener

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Playing its first SCIAC game in almost two years, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team turned up its defensive intensity midway through the first half and pulled away for an 81-58 win over La Verne on Wednesday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

Josh Angle had 15 points and TJ Askew added 14 for the Stags, who improve to 4-1 on the season and start off SCIAC play at 1-0. La Verne slips to 1-5 with the loss. 

CMS turned the ball over only seven times on the day, while forcing La Verne to do so 21 times, and outscoring the Leopards 29-3 in points off turnovers. Rhett Carter was also in double figures for CMS with 10 points. 

It was a tight back-and-forth battle early on, as La Verne took a 21-20 lead with 8:20 left in the half, but CMS outscored the Leopards 25-9 over the rest of the opening stanza to take a 45-29 lead into the break. Askew hit a jumper to put the Stags ahead to stay, and Sam Johnson followed with a lay-up off a Charles Meng assist to make it 24-21. 

Carter hit a lay-up to make the score 26-21, and after La Verne answered with a basket, Kiran Kruse knocked down a three-pointer to stretch the lead to six. Askew pushed the lead to 35-25 with a jumper, and then capped off the half by finding Luke Webb for a short jumper in the paint to give the Stags a 45-29 lead at the half. 

Angle scored the first five points of the second half to put CMS in front 50-29. Askew hit three foul shots to make it a 7-0 run to start the half, and an 11-0 run carrying back to the first half, stretching the lead to 53-29, and the Leopards weren't able to mount a threat the rest of the way. 

Brian Kenyon had a strong all-around stat line for the Stags with nine points (4-6 shooting), five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Max McCalla added seven points on 3-4 shooting, three assists and no turnovers off the bench to give CMS outstanding production from the point guard spot. 

The Stags return to action on Saturday when they host Pomona-Pitzer in the first of two Sixth Street Rivalry games this season, tipping off against the Sagehens at 5 p.m. That contest will be the first half of a doubleheader, with the CMS women's basketball team battling Pomona-Pitzer at 7 p.m.