Carter Scores 27 as CMS Men's Basketball Holds Off Pomona-Pitzer 82-78

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Rhett Carter had 27 points on 13-15 shooting to lead an offense that shot 61.1 percent from the floor as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team held off Pomona-Pitzer 82-78 in a battle of two teams tied for first in the SCIAC on Saturday at Roberts Pavilion.

The win was the 11th in a row for the Stags, who improve to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in the SCIAC and remain in a first-place tie with Cal Lutheran, where they head on Wednesday for a battle for sole possession of first. Pomona-Pitzer slips to 13-4 and 6-2 in the SCIAC with the loss, falling out of the tie for first. 

Josh Angle added 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting as he moved from ninth place to seventh place on the CMS all-time scoring list at 1391 points. Caelan Jones added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Will Householter added 12.

CMS trailed 44-40 at the half and fell behind by nine early in the second half at 49-40 before coming back with a 9-0 run, capped off by an Angle three-pointer to pull even. Pomona-Pitzer answered with a three-pointer, but Carter hit a jumper and Householter made a driving lay-up and a jumper to put CMS in front 55-52.  

Jones had a lay-up and a three-pointer to give the Stags a 65-58 lead with 8:17 left, but the Sagehens kept coming back to within two points down the stretch. CMS repeatedly answered, though, to keep it a two-possession game, with Carter repeatedly hitting big shots. His first came with 5:56 to go to make it 69-65, and then he added another with 4:18 to go to make it 73-69, and answered another Pomona-Pitzer basket with 3:34 to go to make it 75-71. 

After CMS earned a stop, Carter scored again to stretch the lead to 77-71 with 2:49 to go. The Sagehens got within 78-75 before Jones made two foul shots with 18 seconds left. Pete Boyle made a three to cut it to 80-78 and had a one-and-one to tie it after being fouled on a rebound, but he didn't convert, and Angle made two foul shots to seal it. 

Carter had 14 of his points in the second half on 7-8 shooting, finishing with a season-high 27 points, two off of his career high. Angle had 13 after intermission on 4-of-5 shooting (2-of-2 from three), while Jones was also big in the second half with 11 points on 4-4 shooting. Angle and Will King each had six assists for the Stags. 

CMS will head to Cal Lutheran on Wednesday in a winner-take-all battle for first in the SCIAC with three weeks to go in the regular season. The Stags won the first meeting 60-55 behind 21 points and 16 rebounds from Carter.