Box Score THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (Feb. 9, 2022) - Carrying the momentum from a two-game SCIAC winning streak, with the most recent win being an epic one-point victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges for the first time in 50 years, Caltech men's basketball started quickly before ultimately falling at California Lutheran University on Wednesday night.
The Beavers took a 6-3 lead with just over 2:30 gone in the first half. Unfortunately for Caltech, the impressive post move and finish by junior Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cypress / The English School of Nicosia) that energized the squad early would not last as the host Kingsmen went on to lead at the half by seven and then extended their cushion, winning the contest by a final score of 88-64.
The momentum, energy and quality play that keyed the Beavers' recent winning streak was matched and surpassed by Cal Lutheran, which has proven to be a difficult opponent for the Beavers this season. Amazingly, in three contests against Cal Lutheran in 2021-2022, the Beavers have scored exactly 64 points in each of the contests, having conceded no fewer than 81 points in those games. =
Offensively, the Beavers were led on the night by senior guard
Noah Barnes (Springfield, Va. / Jefferson), whose 22 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal were the result of determined effort to get to the basket and hard-nosed play. Fellow senior
Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) was held to 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting and was blanketed all evening by multiple Cal Lutheran players, while also working hard on the defensive end of the floor. When Caltech played zone defense, it was Gee at the top of the key hounding the Cal Lutheran ball handlers. Caltech was equally harassed by Cal Lutheran's defense as the Beavers committed a season-high 24 turnovers. The fact that the Beavers went nearly seven minutes in the first half without scoring a point also proved to be an obstacle that was difficult to overcome.
But the Beavers kept battling and were able to get open to attempt several short-range jumpers that they failed to convert. After a three-pointer by Gee at the nine-minute mark and a thunderous slam dunk by Stavrinides with just over seven minutes remaining, Caltech was slowing clawing its way back into the contest, trailing 22-15. On the entailing possession for Cal Lutheran, senior
Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook) made an outstanding defensive play, blocking a Cal Lutheran shot attempt, which started a fast break that unfortunately failed to lead to points for the Beavers. Caltech was able to continue to get stops on the defensive end and scored the last seven points of the first half to get the score closer at 32-25.
The second half started furiously for the Beavers as they sped up the Kingsmen and turned up their intensity on defense. When Gee made a three-pointer with 18:14 remaining, the Beavers were within one possession trailing 36-33. But Cal Lutheran pushed back and at the first media timeout with 15:43 remaining, the hosts led 43-37. As the two sides traded buckets and stops, the margin stayed in the 7-to-10-point range until Cal Lutheran opened up a 20-point lead with just over nine minutes remaining - a lead that would get no smaller than 18 the rest of the way.
Caltech was outshot 47.6 to 41.8 percent from the field, though the Beavers did hold an advantage from threes, outshooting the hosts 33-28. Caltech also outrebounded the Kingsmen, 33 boards to 29, but were undone largely by their turnovers as CLU converted for 25 points to Caltech's six points on just seven forced turnovers in that department. Another area that did not favor Caltech came from the free throw line, as Caltech only made 11 of 19 from the charity stripe, while Cal Lutheran converted 19 of the 21 foul shots it attempted. Nevertheless, junior Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) paced the bench with four points, eight rebounds and four assists over 20 minutes while Stavrinides accumulated eight points, seven boards and three assists.
Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger and the Beavers look to get back to their winning ways this coming Saturday, Feb. 12 when they host the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens in a 2 p.m. Up to 100 general admission seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning 30 minutes prior to tip-off. All in attendance must prove their vaccination status as well as wear a mask when inside the Braun Athletic Center. For live streaming and live statistics please go to GoCaltech.com.
