WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 19, 2022) - On an evening in which senior Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) moved within 13 points of the career program scoring record, it was reserve teammate junior Kyle McGraw (Los Altos Hills, Calif./ The Nueva School) who went six of seven from three-point land and poured in 20 points to lead the Beavers in scoring in 24 minutes of action. Unfortunately for Caltech, the combined 39 points by Gee and McGraw was not enough as Caltech came up short, with the Whittier College Poets claiming the 10-point victory, 88-78 on Saturday night.

Gee, who was six of 16, including a trio of three-pointers, and also grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals while picking up three personal fouls. McGraw, who on the night clearly followed the rule of three as he was nearly perfect from the field, went seven of eight with six of his made field goals being from beyond the arc. The Beavers had two other players in double digits, including senior Noah Barnes (Springfield, Va. / Jefferson) who finished with 10 points, also grabbing six rebounds and notching four assists. The fourth and final Beaver who tallied in double digits was junior Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cypress / Robert College of Nicosia), who registered 10 points and five rebounds.

The first half was a seesaw affair as the Beavers found themselves trailing early, 10-4, with only four minutes gone in the contest. Several defensive stops by Caltech as well as sloppy ballhandling by the host Poets allowed Caltech to gain control and take the lead at 12-10 with 14:48 left in the first half. The Beavers maintained their advantage and held Whittier scoreless from the 12:54 mark until 9:46 remained, building a 21-14 lead. When McGraw drained another three-pointer with 8:34 remaining in the first half, the Beavers had their largest lead of the night at 30-17. With 5:10 remaining until halftime, McGraw drilled another 3-pointer, assisted by senior Stephen Hei (Newcastle, Was. / Liberty) to push the lead to 37-29. Yet that is where the good news of the first half ended as one blown eight-point lead, in concert with an 18-point swing, found Whittier chipping away at the Caltech advantage. The Poets were able to tie the contest at 37-37 with 2:28 remaining in the first half and surged ahead going into the break, 47-37.

Coming out for the second half, the Beavers were held scoreless for another 1:30, making it over 6:30 minutes that they failed to score a basket. Whittier was able to maintain the margin of difference and not only trade baskets with Caltech, but open up a game-high 19-point lead against the Beavers with 8:14 remaining in the game. While the Beavers tried to chip away at the Poets, adopting a three-quarter to full-court press, they woiuld get no closer than six points the rest of the way. With the loss, Caltech falls to 12-12 (6-8 SCIAC) on the year.

The Beavers close out their regular-season schedule and SCIAC play Monday evening, Feb. 21 vs. Chapman University at 7 p.m. in Pasadena. A brief ceremony to acknowledge the contributions by all those that will be graduating later this year will take place before the opening tip.  

To follow the Beavers Monday night with live stats or live stream, and throughout the SCIAC tournament next week, please tune into GoCaltech.com for more information.