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Caltech Tripped Up in Holiday Classic
Caltech dropped two hard fought games at the annual Holiday Classic this weekend. On Saturday, the Beavers hosted Rivier College from New Hampshire, and they took on Westminster College from Pennsylvania on Sunday.
Against Rivier, Caltech trailed 19-13 with 9:18 in the first half before embarking on an 11-0 run that was sparked by a Mason Freedman 3-pointer. Eight straight points by Mike Edwards helped the Beavers gain a 5-point advantage, 24-19, with 4:23 remaining in the stanza. The visitors, however, used some timely Caltech fouls and their own defensive stops to turn the tide and finish the half with an 11-2 spurt, up 30-26. Miscues by the Beavers in the second half allowed the Raiders to widen the margin to as many as 26 before Caltech whittled away with a 17-8 burst over the last five minutes to make the final score 66-49.
Edwards poured in 28 points during the contest, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had 3 steals. Freedman went 3 for 6 from the field and scored a career-high 8 points. Collin Murphy added a career-high 8 boards and 3 assists.
In the Sunday game, Caltech opened with an 8-4 lead courtesy of an Edwards 3-pointer and Ryan Elmquist layup and long range shot, but the Titans' Ryne Murray got hot and sparked his team to a 33-23 halftime lead with 16 first half points. A Murray layup put the visitors ahead by 18, 55-37, with a little more than 10 minutes in the game before the Beavers began a late run. Freedman, again, nailed a shot from long range and Edwards connected on three more from downtown during the span that saw the Beavers record four steals. A Pan Wang jumper made the score 64-54 with 2:22 left, but that is the closest Caltech would get. Westminster, after losing five straight including its Saturday game against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the Holiday Classic, finished with the win, 66-54.
Edwards led Caltech again with 29 points and a Caltech Men's Basketball record seven 3-pointers. He also collected 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Elmquist scored 16 points, took in 8 boards, and swatted 4 shots. Murphy turned in another solid effort from the point guard spot with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 blocked shot. Freedman added 5 points and 2 assists while Marcus Lucas had a career-high 6 rebounds. The Beavers shot a season-high 50 percent from beyond the arc (10 of 20).
Caltech hosts No. 19 Chapman University this Wednesday at 7:30 pm before SCIAC play begins on Saturday, January 9 at Cal Lutheran.
GO TECH!!!
