Offensive Explosion Carries CMS Men's Basketball Past Whittier 107-75

CLAREMONT, Calif. - James Frye set new career highs with 21 points and 16 rebounds as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team clicked on all cylinders offensively in a 107-75 win over Whittier on Monday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

The win was the ninth in a row for CMS (11-4, 5-1 SCIAC) and moves the Stags into a tie for first in the SCIAC with Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer. Whittier falls to 4-11 overall and 2-4 in the SCIAC with the loss. 

Both teams started out on fire, but the Stags never cooled off, shooting 63.2 percent from the floor while ending the game with 28 assists and only six turnovers as a team. Josh Angle and Caelan Jones each knocked down six three-pointers, with Angle finishing with 25 points and Jones adding 24, while Rhett Carter chipped in with 15 points on 7-8 shooting.  

The score was 16-14 Whittier before either team got a stop, which came when the Poets turned the ball over with 15:56 left in the half. CMS scored on each of its first eight possessions, but the score was still deadlocked 19-19 at that point with 14:10 left in the half, as the two teams combined to shoot 15-16 from the floor in the opening six minutes (with the only miss resulting in a putback from Carter). 

The teams kept exchanging baskets, until CMS closed the half on a 5-0 run in the final minute (a Jones three-pointer and an Angle pull-up at the buzzer) to break a 47-47 tie and take a 52-47 lead into the break. The second half, though, was all Stags, as CMS outscored the Poets 55-28 after halftime. 

In the second half, Jones hit a three-pointer and Carter his a jumper to make the score 63-52 CMS with 16:48 to go, giving the Stags their first double-digit lead. With the score 65-55, Angle hit two straight three-pointers and Frye knocked down a pair of foul shots to break it open and make it 73-55 with 11:48 to go. 

Angle hit a jumper to make the score 80-60, before two straight three-pointers from Aamari Smith gave Whittier a glimmer of hope, but CMS responded with a 10-0 run, as Matt Meredith scored on the fast break, Frye scored on the break, and Angle scored six straight on a three-point play and a three-point jumper to end the comeback hopes. 

Frye surpassed his previous career high of 19 points, set last year (also vs. Whittier) and passed his previous career high of 12 rebounds set against Redlands on Jan. 3. Jones was just one off his career high of 25 set last weekend against Caltech, while setting a new career-high with six three-point field goals. Angle was one shy of his career-high for three, which he set last year with seven on his way to 37 points against No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor. 

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday when it travels to face La Verne for a 7 p.m. contest.