LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Thomas Walker matched his career high with six goals as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team had a tight battle with No. 17 UC Santa Barbara before falling 13-11 on the second day of the MPSF Invitational co-hosted by UCLA and USC. 

CMS also lost 16-7 to No. 9 Princeton in its first game of the day, as it falls to 4-4 on the year with all four of the losses coming to Division I teams (UC San Diego, USC, Princeton and UC Santa Barbara).

The Stags, who are ranked No. 1 in Division III, played the Gauchos to a 4-4 stalemate in the first half, after Walker scored his third goal of the game. Jack Bryant pulled CMS within 4-3, before Walker found the equalizer with 2:17 left in the second quarter. 

Donovan Davidson answered a UC Santa Barbara goal in the third to tie it 5-5, and Weston Hartel scored to cut the Gauchos lead to 7-6, before a 3-0 run opened up a 10-6 advantage. After the lead grew to 12-7, Walker scored three times and Nick Kennedy once to get it to 13-11 with 1:34 left, but the Stags could come no closer. 

Kennedy finished with five assists for the Stags, while Jake Taylor had nine saves in the cage. Walker also had two goals and an assist in the Princeton defeat, while Kennedy had a goal and two assists. Hartel had four steals to lead the CMS defensive effort. 

CMS will conclude play at the MPSF Invitational at 10 a.m. tomorrow in a game played at USC.