Kenyon's Triple-Double Not Quite Enough as CMS Men's Basketball Falls in Overtime

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Brian Kenyon hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left for a triple-double, giving the 15th-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team its first lead of the second half at 67-66, but Pomona-Pitzer was able to split two at the foul line eight seconds later to force overtime and eventually take an 80-76 win over the Stags on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Pavilion.

With the loss, CMS slips to 14-3 overall on the season and 6-2 in the SCIAC, falling out of a first place tie with the Sagehens, who improve to 7-1. 

Kenyon finished the game with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, setting new career highs in points and assists and coming two shy of his career high in rebounds. He had 10 assists relatively early, after tallying eight in the first half, and picked up his 10th rebound late in the second half, but was stuck on seven points until he hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 16 seconds left. 

The Stags trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, after Pomona-Pitzer rallied from a double-digit deficit to tie the score at 34-34 at the half on a three-pointer from Brandon Mora. That momentum carried over into the second half, when Pomona-Pitzer surged up 49-36 with 16:30 left. 

CMS was still down by 12 with seven minutes to go before making its move, as Kiran Kruse (22 points) got the comeback started with a jumper. Rhett Carter then scored off a Josh Angle feed, and Angle followed with a three-pointer to pull CMS within 62-57 with 4:50 left. 

Angle hit two foul shots to close to within 64-61 and then hit an off-balance three-pointer to tie it 64-64 with 1;23 to go. After Joe Cookson hit two foul shots with 32 seconds left for the Sagehens, Kenyon pulled up from the top of the key and knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 67-66 CMS lead. Cookson, though, drew another foul and split two to tie it, and Kenyon's pullup before the final buzzer missed the mark as the game headed to overtime. 

Angle fouled out 11 seconds into overtime, taking the leading scorer for the Stags (21.5 ppg) off the floor on a day they were already missing two of the top six players in their rotation (Matt Meredith, Justin Pratt) with injuries, after Pratt left Wednesday night's game at Redlands in the second half.

Max McCalla came in for Angle and scored on a floater at the rim with 2:54 left in overtime to put CMS ahead 71-70, but Mora answered with a tough shot in traffic. A Hayden Moser three-point play with 1:45 to go made the score 75-71, and after the Sagehens added two more, Kenyon hit another three-pointer with 18 seconds left to make it 77-74. Pete Boyle made two pressure foul shots, though, and Pomona-Pitzer was able to hang on for the tight win. 

Kruse led CMS with his 22 points, including 5-8 from three, while Angle ended with 17, hitting some clutch baskets late on an off shooting night before fouling out. Carter had 14 points, while Kenyon ended with only two turnovers on his triple double (one on the final possession of overtime after the outcome was no longer in doubt) as the Stags committed only nine turnovers as a team. Kenyon now has 120 assists and only 22 turnovers on the season (a 5.5-to-1 ratio). Mora led Pomona-Pitzer with 23 points and 14 rebounds. 

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday night when it travels to Cal Lutheran looking to get back on the winning track.