The lights are coming up on a new season for Stags’ basketball after last year’s record-breaking finish, beginning with an exhibition match against Division II Biola University Oct. 25 at Claremont McKenna’s Roberts Pavilion.
Last year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) made the deepest run in program history in the NCAA Division III Championship, appearing in the Sweet 16 for the first time. The Stags also tied the CMS record for most games won in a season at 23.
The scrimmage, which had no recorded score, allowed the Stags to get game-play reps in before the start of the regular season in November. Though CMS lost many valuable members of its team with the coming of the new school year, namely CMS legend Josh Angle CGU ’24, they replenished their roster with seven new players.
The Stags got off to a slow start in the first half, struggling to keep up with the opposing team on fast breaks and turnovers. But Neil Owens CGU ’25 gave the Stags their first jolt of momentum just minutes into the game, receiving a pass and following up with a pump fake to set up a wide open shot.
Even though the Stags trailed for most of the exhibition, the performance of Owens and his former Redlands teammate Robert Power CGU ’25 proved to be a bright spot for the Stags. Center AJ Rohosy CGU ’25, another grad student who joined the Stags this year, helped draw Biola’s defense towards him, giving his teammates opportunities to shoot.
After the graduation of Angle, the No. 3 all-time Stags’ scorer with 562 points last season and 1647 overall, CMS continues on the path to foster star talent. Guard Stuart McCallum CM ’25 spoke about the new faces and possibilities with this year’s roster.
“We don’t know exactly what the rotation is going to look like,” McCallum said. “You don’t know what happens if one guy goes down, who steps up? But I think we got a really deep group this year, and I’m just excited to see what happens.”
Returning players Reid Jones CM ’27 and James Frye CM ’26 played tight defense against some of Biola’s more physical players, finding defensive rebounds as well as forcing turnovers and missed shots. Jones notched a steal in the first half and an offensive rebound that resulted in a bucket and a free throw. Last season, Jones led the team with 39 steals while Fryre averaged 5.2 rebounds per game, the second highest on the team. According to Jones, Stags head coach Ken Scalmanini highly values defensive performance.
“[Coach] definitely loves and trusts his defense a lot,” Jones said. “And as a team, we try and embody that as much as possible.”
Despite the tenacity of the Stags, Biola strung together a series of offensive successes. CMS found themselves behind on multiple fast breaks following missed shots or turnovers, ending the half trailing to the Eagles.
The Stags emerged from the locker room after halftime and put on the pressure. Just two minutes into the third quarter, a precise pass from Cole Boake CM ’28 led to a resounding dunk from Frye. A traveling call nullified the play, but it was nevertheless a breath of life for the offense.
Owens continued to prove himself as a handler and shooter, using his ability to get open off of dribbles to set up shots like his stepback jumper over the outstretched hands of a Biola defender.
The Stags didn’t make it easy for Biola on defense, running down all 24 seconds of the shot clock on multiple occasions. Matt Meredith CM ’25 helped lead a fierce effort on offense, ripping a ball off the back of the glass to reset the shot clock for the Stags and give them an opportunity to put points on the board.
While the exhibition match didn’t count on either team’s records, Owens explained the match’s importance in helping the new team build confidence and trust in each other for the season ahead.
“I think a game like this helps tremendously,” Owen said. “It’s good to switch it up and play another team to get the chemistry going and work out all the problems.”
McCallum, a team captain this year, also emphasized the team’s driven mentality heading into this year’s season and their resolve to build on last season’s successes.
“I think that we got a little taste of it, and everyone’s still really hungry,” McCallum said. “We want to get back to that point and see if we can push even further. But it starts with the SCIAC.”
The Stags are back in action with another exhibition game against La Sierra University on Saturday, Nov. 2 before they start their regular season against Linfield University on Friday, Nov. 8 at home.
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