Photo: Bob Paz

REDLANDS, Calif. (Jan. 18, 2020) – The Caltech men's basketball team, led by juniors Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) and Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook), nearly completed a compelling road comeback at the University of Redlands on Saturday evening.

Gee's 12 points put him over the 1,000-point mark on his career, becoming the fastest Caltech player to reach the milestone since program scoring leader Mike Edwards '13 accomplished the feat on New Year's Eve 2011. All but one of the junior's field goals came during a second-half surge where the Beavers outscored the host Bulldogs, 34-28. Classmate Schneider performed similarly, scoring 17 of his 20 points over the latter half of the game while shooting 50-percent from the field. 

Caltech's big moment came during a seven-minute stretch beginning at the 13-minute mark in the second half. Trailing by 15 points, the Beavers would not be denied and went on to outscore the Bulldogs, 24-3 leading up to the game's final minutes. The junior duo dumped in all but two of the visiting team's points over the run, putting Caltech in a position to succeed late in the game against a conference playoff contender. The Beavers' defensive energy, however, played perhaps just as importantly into the road comeback. The visitors saw big minutes off the bench from senior Aaron Ayres (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) and freshman Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) whose intensity off the ball helped force Redlands starters to commit 14 of the team's 19 turnovers. A last spurt from the Bulldogs on home confines ultimately put them over the top, but not without the battle-tested Beavers giving them everything they could handle. Caltech rode the hot hand of sophomore Stephen Hei (Newcastle, Wash. / Liberty) in the first half, as all 16 of the wing player's points came over the opening 20 minutes where he went a torrid 4-for-5 from deep.

"It was a valiant comeback for our guys," Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger said. "We really turned it up late and got fabulous minutes and contributions from several players. Chase's energy was especially important for us with the way he took charge, dove for loose balls and defended."

Eslinger and the Beavers will have the opportunity to get back above .500 against conference foes when they host first-place Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.

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