Photo by: Haruna Tomono, Caltech Yearbook

 

CLAREMONT, Calif. (January 15, 2022) - The season records, trends over the last 10 games and roster talent suggested that this matchup between the visiting Beavers and host Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens was destined to be a hotly contested game. Those visions proved accurate as the Beavers fell in an extremely close game, 81-74, on Saturday afternoon inside the Rains Athletic Center on the Pomona College campus.

 

Caltech was led in the first half by senior guard Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica), who contributed 13 points and two rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, along with senior Noah Barnes (Springfield, Va. / Jefferson) who was perfect in the first half, going 3-3 and making the only three-point shot he took, adding seven points to the effort. The Beavers got off to a fast start as Caltech opened up a 7-0 lead with just under two minutes played. The Beavers continued to maintain their lead in the first half through the first 14 minutes when the Sagehens forged their first tie of the contest at 25-25. Pomona-Pitzer finally moved in front 35-32 with just over 1:30 remaining in the first half. Going into the locker room the Beavers trailed by a point, down 38-37.

 

The second half started with the two sides trading baskets. Junior Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) once again came off the bench to provide a spark on both ends of the floor. Pagon tied for the team high in the second half with Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook) with 8 points. Unfortunately, the team's collective efforts came up just short. The critical stretch in the game came immediately after the Beavers had established their greatest lead of the game, pushing in front 63-54 on a made free throw by center Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cyprus / The English School of Nicosia). Over a period of exactly five minutes, from 8:40 to 3:40 remaining, Caltech's lead had gone from up nine to down eight for a swing of 17 points. This fairly rapid change proved to be too much for the Beavers to overcome, in spite of a spirited effort to tie the game in the closing seconds.

 

For the game, the Beavers' field-goal percentage was two percentage points better than that of the Sagehens - both teams shot 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, both going 9-for-24. The rebounding battle was won by Pomona-Pitzer as were the second chance points, both proving to be big factors in the Sagehens comeback win. With the defeat, the Beavers are no longer the only SCIAC team undefeated in conference play; at 2-1, the Beavers find themselves in third place, trailing Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the standings.  

 

Up next for Dr. Oliver Eslinger, his staff and team is a matchup versus Occidental College on Monday, Jan. 17 at 5:00 p.m. The contest will be played inside the Braun Athletic Center and though current requirements do not permit spectators, fans are encouraged to stream the game live at GoCaltech.com.