Late Comeback Foiled as Caltech Upsets CMS Men's Basketball 61-60

PASADENA, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team had a frantic comeback in the final minutes to take a 60-59 lead on a Josh Angle three-pointer with 35 seconds left, but Caltech answered with the game-winner from Chase Pagon with 13 seconds remaining, as the Beavers upset the first-place Stags 61-60 on Monday evening.

Kiran Kruse had a career-high 20 points, including seven straight in the closing minutes to cut an eight-point Caltech lead down to one, to lead the way for the Stags, who fall to 15-4 overall and 9-3 in the SCIAC with the loss. Caltech, which had lost 93 straight to CMS dating back to 1970-71, improves to 11-9 overall and 5-5 in conference play. 

The Beavers held a lead of as many as 10 points in the second half at 43-33, before an Angle three cut it down to seven with 10:35 left. Kruse made two foul shots with 7:57 left to get it down to two, but Caltech was able to build the lead back to 58-50 with 2:57 to go on a Stephen Hei three-pointer. 

Kruse then went on a personal 7-0 run, making two foul shots, hitting a three in the right corner in front of the CMS bench and converting on a tough drive to close the gap to 58-57. After the Beavers split two foul shots with 46 seconds left, the Stags called a timeout and set up a play for Angle, who buried a three-pointer from the left wing to give CMS its first lead since it had a 26-25 advantage at the half. 

The Beavers responded, though, as Marcus Gee drove and found Pagon in the middle of the paint, and he converted a short jumper with 13 seconds left. CMS pushed down court after the basket to go for the game-winner, and Angle ended up with a clean look from 25 feet from the top of the key, but it hit off the rim and bounced into the corner, where Rhett Carter tracked it down, but he could only pass to Brian Kenyon for a desperation three at the buzzer which missed the mark as the Beavers earned the dramatic one-point win. 

Angle finished with 16 points on the day for the Stags, while Matt Meredith had eight points and eight rebounds. Gee led all scorers with 22 for the Beavers, while Kyle McGraw added 11. 

CMS will look to bounce back when it faces Chapman on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest at Roberts Pavilion.