CMS Men's Basketball Dominates in 97-66 SCIAC Road Win over Whittier

WHITTIER, Calif. - Josh Angle had 30 points on 9-11 shooting from the floor, and Kiran Kruse added 20 on 6-of-9 shooting as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team raced out to a 51-19 halftime lead and cruised to a 97-66 win over Whittier on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the 19th-ranked Stags move to 18-3 overall on the season, and 10-2 in SCIAC play with four games left, including head-to-head matchups with the other two teams in the top three (Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer). Whittier falls to 5-14 overall and 2-9 in SCIAC with the loss. 

CMS had a 7-0 run in a span of 20 seconds in the first half to get things rolling, as Kruse had a four-point play and Angle hit a three to turn a 12-7 lead into a 19-7 advantage with 12:09 left in the half.

After Whittier stopped the run temporarily with a three-pointer to close to within 19-10, CMS went on a 15-0 run to pull away early. Angle and Kruse scored the first 11 points of the run, before Brian Kenyon and Rhett Carter converted lay-ups to make it 34-10 with 4:38 left in the half. Carter capped off the half with a dunk to make it 51-19 at the break. 

The second half saw the lead swell to as many as 42 points, before Whittier made it a 31-point final deficit. Lucas Grandison had six points on 3-3 shooting to lead a bench effort that saw six Stag reserves add to the 97-point total. 

CMS will be back in action for another SCIAC road game at Chapman on Wedneday night at 7 p.m.