LA CROSSE, Wisc. - Joey Kennedy had career-highs with 24 points and 16 rebounds as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team pulled away from Aurora for an 84-60 win in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday at Wisconsin-La Crosse.

With the win, CMS improves to 23-4 and will move on to the regional finals, which will be held tomorrow against either host Wisconsin-La Crosse or Hope. 

Kennedy shot 11-15 from the floor and surpassed his previous career high of 23, set earlier this year against Puget Sound. He was joined in double figures by Will Householter with 16 points, Reid Jones with 14 and Samuel Gibbs with 12. 

CMS led 31-27 with 4:30 left in the first half, before taking control with a 14-0 run to go ahead by 18. Kennedy started the run with a layup, and Jones followed with another layup off a Gibbs steal to make it 35-27. Gibbs then fed Kennedy for a layup and Householter for a jumper to push the lead to 39-27 with 2:16 left on the first half clock. 

Householter capped off the run with five seconds left off a Jones feed. Aurora beat the buzzer to close the gap to 45-29 at the break, but CMS was able to get the lead up to 20 at 51-31 early in the second half on a Jones fastbreak layup. Aurora got it down to 14 at 52-38, but Kennedy, Householter and Jones scored layups in succession to restore the 20-point lead, and the Stags weren't threatened again. 

CMS will look to win its second regional title in the last three years with a win tomorrow. The Stags won a regional hosted by Cal Lutheran two years ago, making it to sectionals (Round of 16) for the first time in program history. A year ago, the Stags were edged in double overtime by host Ramapo in the opening round.