PASADENA, Calif. (Dec. 12, 2021) - A double-double and 500th career rebound by senior Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook) proved just enough to vault Caltech men's basketball to a scrappy victory over George Fox University in a 58-56 win on Sunday.

The Beavers overcame a pair of foul-outs and dismal shooting percentages in a defensive battle to record their fourth straight win of the campaign for the first time since the 1953-54 SCIAC Championship-winning season. 

"I thought we handled the fouls well and were able to rotate guys in and get production," Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger said. "I was very proud of our versatility tonight. We had a high level of focus, knowing if we kept them under 60 with their capability of scoring in bunches, we'd have a good chance. It was a pleasure to watch our guys perform in such a defensive battle and really physical game." 

Schneider pulled down his historic rebound at the 16:25 mark in the first half to join an exclusive club of 1,000-point, 500-rebound members. His 10-point, 10-board performance proved critical as usual to Caltech's hopes in the game, though he was joined by another trio of double-digit scorers in classmates Noah Barnes (Springfield, Va. / Jefferson), Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) and Stephen Hei (Newcastle, Wash. / Liberty). 

"Only a handful of players have both 1,000 and 500 here and for Spencer to reach those milestones is quite an accomplishment," Eslinger said. "I'm very happy for him. Still, he'd be the first to say it's all about the team, and the most important thing was getting the win tonight."

The West region foes battles at 2-2 through the first three minutes of the game and kept within two points of one another until the 12:13 mark, when Hei knocked down a three-pointer and followed it up with a four-point play to give the Beavers a six-point lead. 

George Fox responded instantly with a four-point play of its own and took a brief lead before Caltech stretched out to a game-high seven-point lead at 4:13 left in the half. The Beavers kept pace with the Bruins from there to hold a six-point edge heading into halftime.

The visitors almost immediately erased the deficit to open the second half, pulling within two points just 32 seconds into play before finally taking the lead with 13:51 on the clock. Each team would lead by no more than four points henceforth, with Caltech up at 9:14 and George Fox flipping the script at 6:03. Schneider knocked down a clutch three to pull the Beavers within one and then earned a trip to the free-throw line, where he sank both efforts to send the Beavers back ahead by one with 3:56 remaining. George Fox regained the lead by the 1:39 mark, but a strong drive and dish from Barnes to junior Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) at 1:10 put Caltech back in front. 

The Beavers forced two awkward layups and drew a trip to the line in the bonus over the next 50 seconds, but with 17 seconds left to play GFU had tied things up at 56-56 having gone 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. Coming out of their penultimate timeout, the Beavers got the ball into the hands of 2020 All-SCIAc First Teamer Gee, whose shot clanged off the iron but found the hands of junior Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cyrus / English School of Nicosia), who managed to secure the rebound and went up for the putback as he was fouled with just .8 left on the clock. Having gone 0-3 on free throws in the game to that point, the veteran calmly stepped up to the line and drilled both attempts, leaving the Bruins with a longshot final attempt that Gee knocked away off the inbounds for the victory.

Despite the shooting woes, Caltech still edged GFU 37-32 from the field and 29-26 from beyond the arc, though had to overcome eight more turnovers. Both Hei and Pagan fouled out but not before contributing a combined 16 points and 11 rebounds in 39 minutes of action, with Pagon adding three assists. Though Gee struggled to find his typical shooting stroke (3-for-13 from long range), the senior leader still managed a team-best 11 points with three assists and three steals while Stavrinides paced the squad with four assists and freshman Riley Wood (Richmond, Va. / St. Christopher's School) chipped in three steals.

"Marcus has a completed game and can produce in many ways that often are outshone by his scoring prowess," Eslinger said. "He is a playmaker on both sides of the ball and it can really lead us even when his shot isn't falling, exactly as he did when we needed today."

Eslinger and the Beavers host the University of California, Santa Cruz tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. in an attempt to avenge a 13-point Nov. 21 defeat.