| Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' season ended in the first
round last spring at Chapman. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics photo |
D3hoops.com preseason All-American Chris Blees scored 25 points, including a pair of game-winning free throws with three seconds left to lift Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to an 81-79 win at Azusa Pacific in the season opener for both teams.
Azusa Pacific was the preseason No. 1 team in NAIA Division I. The loss snapped the Cougars' 42-game win streak against D-III opponents.
The Stags trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and by 12 with 15:11 to go in the ballgame. But Claremont-Mudd-Scripps went on a 14-6 run capped by a Joseph Anderson layup to cut the lead to 61-57 with 10:22 left. A Remy Pinson three-pointer gave the Stags their first lead of the second half with 3:26 remaining and another Anderson layup with 56 seconds gave Claremont a three-point advantage. But Marshall Johnson hit a pair of free throws and Mike Caffese hit one of two for Azusa Pacific to set up Blees' final heroics.
Pinson finished with 13 points off the bench for the Stags.