PASADENA, Calif. (Nov. 11, 2021) - On a night in which both the men's and women's basketball programs played at home, the men's team welcomed in the Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels of Atlanta, Ga. to the Braun Athletic Center in the nightcap of the hoops doubleheader.

Senior Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) led Caltech on offense, including nine points on a trio of made three-pointers in nine attempts over the first half. He scored 14 on the evening on 5-of-17 from the field. In 32 minutes of action, he also contributed five assists and three rebounds all while playing through a minor injury and up against the wall with four personal fouls. He fought through countless picks, screens and defensive action to keep the Beavers close. 

 

The second leading score for the Beavers on the evening was classmate Noah Barnes (Springfield, Va. / Jefferson), who netted 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He also contributed four rebounds, three assists and a block as the primary ballhandler for much of the 31 minutes he played. Of equal or greater importance was the determination and toughness he demonstrated as he continually drove the ball into the paint, especially in the second half.

Freshman Jeb Brysacz (San Antonio, Texas / Alamo Heights) had a strong first half as he chipped in with six points in only seven minutes of first-half action. While he played 13 of his total 20 minutes in the second half, he couldn't make his way on the score sheet in the second stanza, finishing the evening with an additional two rebounds. The scoreboard showed the visitors from Atlanta in front 46 to 32 at halftime. The Beavers won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Petrels 20-17 in the first half.

The second half began with Caltech cutting into the Oglethorpe lead on a hard-earned, old-school three-point play by junior Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cyprus / The English School of Nicosia). Fouled as he was laying the ball in, he converted the free throw to cut the lead to 46-35 with19:40 remaining in the game.

 

As the intensity on both ends picked up for the Beavers, the experience and pace of the Stormy Petrels kept the determined Caltech side from cutting too deeply into the first-half lead. From the 18-minute mark until the 15-minute mark of the second half the two sides traded blows, with the point differential not changing significantly. With 13:50 left in the contest, senior Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas, Clearbrook) hit a jumper that brought the Beavers within seven points at 53-46.  While the bench and pro-Caltech crowd increased the volume of their support, the Stormy Petrels re-buffed the surge and pushed the lead back to 15 points for much of the balance of the contest.

 

Schneider, in nearly 34 minutes of playing time, contributed 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He was fantastic on the glass, coming away with nine rebounds and one blocked shot, while not committing a single foul on the evening. Junior Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif./ Santa Fe Christian) played 26 minutes, contributing eight points to the Caltech cause and snaring six rebounds while admirably hounding the Oglethorpe point guard and second-leading scorer.

"We knew that they were going to be a really good team," Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger said. "We were excited to play them because we knew that they are picked to finish toward the top of their very competitive league, they have some exceptionally fast players to guard, and the players they rely on are mostly seniors who have had a lot of experience playing together. That's the way our conference is going to be and so that's what I told our guys after the game - we didn't love the outcome tonight, but it's definitely the kind of game that's going to make us better as the year goes on."

The Beavers battled all night to stay in the game. While the final score ended up a 16-point win by the visitors, if not for the grit, fight and ability of the Caltech group, the game could have easily ended in a more lopsided score.

 

"We have every reason to be optimistic about our team's chances," Eslinger said. "We have a lot to work on, but it's a great group to work with. I'm very proud of how we stuck together. We were optimistic at halftime and knew that if we strung together a few baskets and a few stops, that we could be right there. We are getting better each time out at sharing the basketball and making smart plays. We have a very versatile team this year. We can show a lot of different looks at both ends of the floor; we can match teams with size, while we also have several talented shooters. There are several players on our roster that can handle the ball. We are balanced and when you combine the players' attitudes along with their ability, I think there's plenty of reason to be very optimistic about this season."

Next up for Eslinger and Caltech is another nonconference matchup with conference foe California Lutheran University.  The Beavers will host the Kingsmen on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 pm in the Braun Athletic Center.