CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team fell to CMS by the score of 82-78 in a wild ending to the Sixth Street Rivalry on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Pavilion.
Season Impact: With the loss, the Sagehens suffered their second SCIAC loss of the season and moved to 13-4 overall and 6-2 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens had five players reach double-digits in the scoring column in what was a highly efficient offensive night for the Sagehens.
Ty Bergman led the way with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Joe Cookson had 15 points,
Peyton Mullarkey and
Hayden Moser with 12, and
Pete Boyle with 11.
Both teams shot over 50% today with the Sagehens at 53.7% from the field and 43.8% from three while CMS shot 61.1% from the floor and 41.2% from beyond the arc. CMS did a lot of damage inside with 46 points in the paint to Pomona-Pitzer's 24. CMS also won the turnover battle with just six turnovers while the Sagehens turned the ball over 13 times allowing CMS to earn 16 points off turnovers.
CMS started out shooting the ball well to take an early lead over the Sagehens to start the Sixth Street Rivalry. CMS held a small advantage early but started to stretch its lead and went up 19-11 to force the Sagehens to burn a timeout with 13:25 left in the first half. The Sagehens returned from their timeout and immediately sprung a 10-2 run to get back within one point of CMS at 22-21. The Sagehens came back and tied the game at 27-27 after a three by Mullarkey and then went on to take the lead on their next possession off a layup from Hedin to hold a 29-27 lead over CMS. Pomona-Pitzer held the lead late in the first half and went into halftime with a 44-40 lead.
The Sagehens extended their lead right out of halftime to take their largest lead of the game at 49-40. CMS responded with a 9-0 run to immediately tie the game back up at 49-49. It was a tight contest the rest of the way, but CMS took the lead and held it at 71-69 with just under five minutes to play. The Stags started to get rolling on offense with six straight points from their big man Rhett Carter, but the Sagehens made a run down the stretch and closed the gap to 78-75 to give themselves a chance to tie. The Sagehens' attempt to tie the game was blocked and recovered by CMS as the Sagehens were forced to foul.
The Sagehens then came back with an unprecedented four-point play opportunity to make it a one-possession game but were still forced to foul. After sending CMS to the line, the Stags missed the front end of their one-and-one and the Sagehens got a loose ball foul that sent them to the line with a chance to tie. Pomona-Pitzer unfortunately went on to miss the front end of the one-and-one and the Stags closed the game out at the line at the other end to take the first leg of the Sixth Street Rivalry.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next head to Whittier College on Wednesday, January 24
th at 7:00 p.m.
