Photo by: Haruna Tomono, Caltech Yearbook

 

PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 17, 2022) - When senior Ethan Eason (Mercer Island, Wash. / Mercer Island) made a jump shot from just inside the three-point arc with five minutes gone in the first half, Caltech led 7-3 and was seemingly on its way to winning its eighth game in nine contests against Occidental College on Monday night. Unfortunately for Caltech, the new-look Tigers were having none of it as they began to claw their way back into the game and ultimately succeeded, defeating the host Beavers 72-59 inside the Braun Athletic Center.

 

Entering the contest in third place in the SCIAC, the Beavers were focused on starting another winning streak. For the game, Caltech was led offensively by seniors Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica), Steven Hei (Newcastle, Wash. / Liberty), and Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook) who tallied 19, 13 and 11 points, respectively. While Gee nearly met his conference game average of 20.5 points, his 19 points all came in the second half, well after Occidental had established a comfortable lead and was playing the game at the pace and style that it wanted and dictated.

 

Trailing 28-20 at the end of the first half, the Beavers started the second with the basketball. While uncharacteristic shooting woes, missed layups and intense defense by the Tigers didn't allow Caltech to make inroads into the deficit, the lead swelled for Occidental to 36-26 with just over 17 minutes remaining in the contest.

 

When Caltech defeated Occidental 63-61 in the 110 Rivalry game on Nov. 9, just over two months ago, the Beavers had 19 assists on 21 made baskets - better than their season average of 17.5 assists on 25.3 field goals made. But on this night, between Caltech having an off night shooting and Occidental playing defense at a frenetic pace, harassing and hurrying the Beaver's chances, Caltech only had eight assists on 18 made baskets. The field goal percentage of 30.5 percent for the game was nearly 11 points fewer than their season average of 41. Further, while Caltech normally allows their opponents to shoot a field goal percentage of 41 percent, Occidental shot 48.1 percent for the contest, shooting nearly 20 points better than the Beavers on the evening. Yet another oddity of Monday's score line was that only four players for Occidental scored on the night, with 60 of the team's 72 points coming from players who did not score a single point in the teams' prior matchup.

 

While the Beavers' challenges were evident throughout the contest, with 11:37 remaining, Gee made two of his seven successful free throws in the second half, pulling Caltech within 43-39 of the Tigers. Occidental had maintained a 10-point margin for much of the second half to bookend that point in time as the Beavers would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, with Occidental going on to open up a 20-point lead at 59-39 with 5:03 remaining, holding Caltech scoreless for over 6:30.

 

Tenacity, grit and an unwillingness to give up helped the Beavers fight their way back into the contest late, and with 40 seconds remaining Caltech was back within seven points of a tie game, with Occidental leading 66-59. The Beavers would get no closer and fell on the evening to 2-2 in SCIAC play, while Occidental moved to 2-3 in conference.

 

Next up for Head Coach Oliver Eslinger, his staff and the men's basketball team is a Wednesday, Jan. 19 conference matchup versus the California Lutheran University Kingsmen. The game will be played without spectators inside the Braun Athletic Center starting at 7 p.m. and can be livestreamed at GoCaltech.com.