Men's Basketball Suffers Frustrating Loss to CMS
By Tamara Zakim
Sports Editor

Pomona-Pitzer sports fans dutifully packed Claremont's Ducey Gymnasium on Monday night in the hopes of a cross-campus basketball match-up more promising than the one they witnessed three weeks ago. Any expectations of revenge quickly dissipated in the opening minutes of the competition and Hens fans were silenced for a second time as CMS took a strong offensive lead and never looked back. The Hens' abysmal shooting sealed the outcome of the game for the Stags, who ultimately won the contest by a resounding 21 points, 61-40.

"It was a frustrating night," said men's head coach Charles Katsiaficas. "Frustrating" was certainly an appropriate word to describe a game filled with open looks and missed opportunities for the visiting team. Claremont's 9-0 run from the tip-off was all too familiar. While Stag fans relished the lopsided score, Hens fans were left fearing a painful replay of the February 1 meeting between Pomona-Pitzer and CMS. In the previous match-up, the Hens fell behind 21-3 before finding any semblance of offensive rhythm.

Before digging themselves into another near twenty-point hole, Pomona-Pitzer was able to put some points on the board. Despite their more fluid offensive effort, however, the Hens failed to contain Claremont's shooters and close what was, at its most manageable, a ten-point scoring gap. The Stags finished the first half shooting 50 percent from the field; the Hens were held to less than 24 percent.

A 37-22 halftime score held vague promise of comeback but CMS swiftly removed any possibility of Sagehen victory with another 9-0 run at the start of the second half. Though the two teams shot surprisingly sub-par second halves with field goal percentages lower than 23 percent on both ends, aggressive moves to the basket by the Stags put the Hens in foul trouble and boosted the opponent's score with free throws. CMS center Hans Meyer scored 8 of his 14 points from the foul line; the Stags converted 24 of 35 free throw attempts compared to Pomona-Pitzer's 8 of 12. Consecutive three-pointers by CMS leading scorer Josh Keough increasingly widened the point margin, much to the delight of the rowdy home team supporters. Keough finished the night with a game-high 16 points.

Pomona-Pitzer's shooting woes and inability to get to the free throw line were their most prominent difficulties. To their credit, the Hens took excellent care of the ball, committing only 10 turnovers to the Stags' 15, and rebounding evenly with their opponents. Though the Sagehens were consistently afforded good looks at the basket by an unimpressive Stag defense, the ball would simply not drop. "After a while, it became psychological for us," commented Katsiaficas. "We settled for decent shots but we lacked the offensive aggressiveness that Claremont demonstrated. We didn't balance our shots with attacks to the rim."

Pomona-Pitzer's singular offensive spark found itself in the form of freshman forward Ed Wexler-Baron, who came off the bench to contribute 10 points and grab 6 rebounds in 15 minutes. Wexler-Baron, the only Sagehen to score in double-figures, has missed a majority of the season due to a stress-fracture. "We were looking deep into our rotation to try and find a combination that could get something going and Ed was able to do that for us," explained Katsiaficas.

As the basketball season comes to a close, Monday's loss drops Pomona-Pitzer to 5-8 in SCIAC and 8-16 overall.