PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Men's Basketball kicked off the 2022-23 season in the annual 110 Rivalry Game Wednesday night at Occidental College's Rush Gymnasium. 

It was an exciting back-and-forth contest, the Beavers fighting back after Oxy's hot start to claim a couple of first half leads thanks to 15 points from senior Kyle McGraw (Los Altos Hills, Calif. / The Nueva School). He was perfect on his four attempts beyond the arc in the opening frame and led both teams in scoring at the break.

The second half is when Caltech's offense caught fire, as senior Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) nearly earned his triple-double in the last 20 minutes alone. He finished the night with a team-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, including six offensive boards. He added contributions on both sides of the court with four assists and a blocked shot. 

Senior Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cyprus / The English School of Nicosia) was a powerful force in his familiar center role, shooting 83.3% from the field for 13 points, also dishing three assists and blocking one shot by the Tigers. 

As a team, the Beavers did well to capitalize on offensive rebounds, scoring 13 points on those second chances. And in the second half, Caltech dominated in the paint, scoring 28 points from close range to Oxy's 14.

Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger and the Beavers will be back in action on Saturday as they host the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Tech. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.