CMS Men's Basketball Closes on 7-0 Run for 66-64 Win over Cal Lutheran

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team trailed Cal Lutheran 64-59 with two minutes left but closed on a 7-0 to take a 66-64 win over the Kingsmen on two foul shots from Kiran Kruse with four seconds left.

With the win, the 19th-ranked Stags improve to 15-3 overall and 7-2 in the SCIAC, moving two games ahead of Cal Lutheran (8-9, 5-4), which was poised to moved into a tie with CMS before the late rally. 

The Stags were missing three of their top six rotation players, as Rhett Carter, Matt Meredith and Justin Pratt were all out of action. Kruse finished with 21 points, Josh Angle had 15, and the other three starters each had eight: Brian Kenyon, James Frye and Cahal Connolly, making his first start in place of Carter. 

Angle's jump shot tied it at 59-59, before Cal Lutheran scored the next five points, pulling ahead 64-59 on a Tommy Griffits dunk with 2:07 to go. Just 11 seconds later, Kenyon hit a big three-pointer off a Kruse feed to get it back down to two. Angle then pulled down a defensive rebound, and Kruse was fouled, tying the game at 64-64 with 58 seconds left. 

Cal Lutheran missed a go-ahead three-point attempt, and Kruse pulled down the defensive board to set up the final possession. Angle drove to the basket and couldn't convert, but Kruse got inside position on the rebound and drew a foul with just four seconds left. He knocked down both, making him 9-9 from the line at the game, and the final three-point attempt from the Kingsmen missed, giving CMS the key SCIAC win. 

Angle added a team-high eight rebounds and five assists to his 15 points, while Kenyon, fresh off a triple-double on Saturday against Pomona-Pitzer, finished with six rebounds and five assists. Max McCalla also gave CMS a big lift off its depleted bench with six assists, no turnovers and five rebounds. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts Caltech for a 4 p.m. contest.