CLAREMONT, Calif. - Will Householter had 23 points and Reid Jones added 17, with both making key three-point plays down the stretch, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team earned a 77-68 win over La Verne in the SCIAC opener for both teams on Wednesday evening at Roberts Pavilion. 

With the win, CMS moves to 8-0 on the year and starts out 1-0 in SCIAC play. La Verne slips to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the SCIAC with the loss. 

The Stags fell behind 10-4 early and then used a 9-0 run to take a 13-10 lead it would never relinquish. Jones started the run with a three-pointer, Luke Jacobson followed with a lay-up off a Householter assist, Householter made it 11-10 with a driving layup and Jacobson capped off the run with a putback. 

James Frye gave CMS its largest lead of the first half at 35-26 with two foul shots with 2:03 left in the half, before the Stags took a 37-30 lead into the break. La Verne pulled within 39-36 early in the second half, but Cahal Connolly made two straight baskets to give CMS its first double-digit lead at 52-42 with 14:06 to go. 

CMS led by as many as 14, but La Verne hung around and got it to within seven points with 3:01 to go. Householter then made a pullup jumper from 18 feet and drew a foul to get the lead back up to 72-62 with 2:46 left. A three-pointer from the Leopards again made it seven, but Reid responded back with 1:29 to go with a back cut for a layup off a feed from Joey Kennedy and converted the and-one to seal it. 

Householter, the reigning CMS Offensive Player of the Week, scored 20 points or more for the third time in his last four contests, while adding a team-high five assists. Connolly was also in double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Frye and Jacobson chupped in with eight points apiece off the bench. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Whittier for a 2 p.m. contest.