CLAREMONT, CA – After falling behind early the Caltech men's basketball team fought back but fell short in the end as they dropped an 84-70 decision to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday evening.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps jumped out early with an efficient offensive effort. In the opening frame the home squad hit 59.4 percent (19-of-32) of their field goal attempts in helping them build a lead as big as 21 points. However, a valiant Beavers squad fought back before the halftime horn.

Of Caltech's final 10 possessions to close out the half they scored on eight of them to cut their deficit at halftime to 13 points at 50-37 heading in the locker room. Caltech hit 14 of their 26 field goal attempts (53.8 percent) in the first half.

The Beavers came out of the locker room with a continued solid effort. They scored the second period's first eight points to cut the Stags lead to 50-45 with 16:50 left in the game. Over the next several minutes the team's traded points as the Stags couldn't grow their lead to bigger than 12 points but Caltech couldn't get closer than seven points.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was able to put the game away in the final minutes. Leading 68-60 with 8:44 remaining, the Stags went on a 7-0 scoring spurt over the next two minutes to push their advantage up to 15 points. The home squad kept their lead at double figures the rest of the way.

Aiding in the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps win was an efficient effort from behind the arc. The Stags hit half of their 22 three-point shots. Overall the Stags went 31-for-58 (58.5 percent) from the floor.

Jack Grodahl came off the bench to score a game high 19 points to lead the Stags scoring effort. He connected on all but one of his six three-point shots in 18 minutes.

Caltech's Kc Emezie had a team best 18 points in a reserve role. The first-year's scoring performance was a personal best. Collin Murphy chipped in a personal season best 10 points while Michael Edwards contributed a 14-point evening.

Both teams protected the ball efficiently as Caltech posted a season low 10 turnovers while Claremont-Mudd-Scipps turned the ball over 11 times.