CHICAGO — The Caltech men's basketball team wrapped up its participation in the 2023 Midway Classic Tournament on Sunday as the Beavers took on the Albion College Britons in a neutral-site late-morning matchup.

It was the second game in under 24 hours for Caltech, though they were not dismayed as they took on their Michigan opponents. The Brits earned the opening points of the contest, though the Beavers answered on the next possession after junior forward Riley Wood found sophomore guard Noah Hicks for the layup.

The teams continued to trade buckets as Albion downed a three-pointer before first-year guard-wing Andrew Koclanes splashed a deep shot of his own on the next possession to tie up the contest again.

Hicks gave Caltech its first lead of the day their next time on offense as the guard drew a foul on a three-point shot; the George native would go 3-for-3 to put the Beavers up 8-5.

The opponents soon re-took the lead though Caltech would take it right back at 10-9 as junior wing-forward Evan Portnoi scored his first points of the day via a strong layup. He made it back-to-back points on the Beavers' next possession as he connected on a jump shot in the paint.

Albion pulled ahead as action continued but Caltech stayed in reach; another three-pointer by Koclanes put the Beavers within five at 20-15 with just under ten minutes remaining in the half.

Koclanes picked up two assists in the final few minutes of the period as he found Portnoi for a two-point jumper and first-year guard-wing Christos Palkogiannis for a trey.

A nice pass from Koclanes gave the squad its first bucket of the second half as Hicks drained a shot from deep; Portnoi attempted one of his own a few minutes later, though he was fouled. The 6'6" junior went 3-for-3 at the line.

The Beavers continued to fight throughout the half, notably scoring in three of their final four trips down the court, but it was not enough to overcome the Britons.

Hicks scored a game-high 19 points in the contest – just one shy of tying his career high. He was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Koclanes did much of the Beavers' distributing in the matchup; the Denver native recorded a stellar six assists in the game with four coming in the second half. Koclanes also led the game in steals (three) and led Caltech in boards with eight.

Portnoi scored 11 points in just 19 minutes, going 4-for-11 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

The Beavers went 13-for-15 on free throws (.867) while Albion was just for 4-for-7 (.571). The squad logged eight steals to the Brits' five.

Caltech recorded 14 offensive rebounds; they scored ten points off turnovers. The game saw three ties and four lead changes.

Head coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger and the team will now focus on the Eagles of West Coast Baptist College as they head north to Lancaster this Thursday, Nov. 16 for another road game. Action is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Follow the game online at gocaltech.com/coverage.

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