PASADENA, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball squad, the 19th ranked team in the nation, used a tough defensive effort to knock off Caltech 77-42 on Saturday evening in the SCIAC opener for both teams.

The Stags, who came into the game with the country's 14th best scoring defense, held Caltech to season lows in points and field goals made (13) to aid in their winning effort. The Stags nailed 52.7 percent (29-of-55) of their field goal attempts while holding the Beavers to a 13-for-44 (29.5 percent) effort from the field.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps forced the Beavers into 22 miscues en route to holding a 26-11 advantage in points off turnovers.

The visitors jumped out to a 13-2 lead less than eight minutes into the contest. During that stretch the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defense held Caltech to one field goal on seven attempts while forcing four turnovers.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps methodically grew their lead to 21 points at 34-13 with 5:06 remaining until halftime. Caltech got their deficit down to 35-20 less than two minutes later but couldn't draw any closer as the Stags went into the locker room with a 39-22 advantage.

Unfortunately for the Beavers the second half was a similar story. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps didn't let the home squad closer than 16 points during the final frame in taking the win.

Joseph Anderson had a game high 14 points to pace the Stags scoring drive. The forward went 5-for-6 from the field while converting all four of his free throws en route to taking top scoring honors. Jack Grodahl (11) and Mani Maceira (10) also posted double-figure scoring efforts in the win.

Collin Murphy and Alex Runkel each score a team best seven points for Caltech. Runkel grabbed a game high and personal best 13 rebounds.