PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Men's Basketball officially opened the 2023-24 season as the hosts of the annual 110 Rivalry Game, taking on the Tigers of Occidental College from the other side of the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

The Beavers' first possession came from a quick steal by Evan Portnoi after the guests claimed the opening tip, and on Oxy's next attack, a huge block by James Downs helped to run out the shot clock. After the Tigers claimed the first two baskets of the game, Caltech was awarded a trio of free throws — two for a shooting foul following one for a jersey number-related technical foul. Noah Hicks put the Beavers on the board in the fourth minute of the contest with the tech free throw, and then Riley Wood sunk one of his to cut the Tigers' lead in half.

Hicks hit another jumper to keep Oxy within reach, and then rookie Andrew Koclanes dropped in a layup for his first basket as a Beaver. Leo Williams then snapped a Tiger scoring run with a three-pointer off Koclanes' assist.

First-year Matt Cantor scored his first two Caltech points on a pair of free throws at the 4:33 mark, and then Hicks splashed a jumper from inside the paint for the Beavers' last basket of the opening half.

Looking to claw back into the game after halftime, the Beavers fired up the crowd at Braun Gymnasium with four three-pointers to start the second half. Hicks first dished to Portnoi, and then rookie Ryan Hu nailed another one in his Caltech debut. About a minute later, Hicks again assisted Portnoi from downtown, and then Wood fed Hu an assist for another deep three. Portnoi and Hu kept scoring as the crowd grew louder and the Oxy lead shrunk to just six points with under 12 minutes to go.

The Tigers managed to hit the brakes on Caltech's surge, but Hicks drew a foul on a layup and then hit his free throw for an old-fashioned three-pointer, seconds later picking up a steal and another good layup to give the Beavers 41 points. And with just over a minute remaining, Cantor blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound before picking up an offensive rebound in the waning seconds and converting for the last basket of the contest.

Hu, Portnoi and Hicks all scored in double-figures, while Wood was the game's top rebounder with 10 including a game-high four on offense.

"It was a good opening game for our team and our first-years," Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger said. "Oxy was well-prepared and showed our newcomers what our conference is like — what good D3 basketball is like."

Eslinger and the Beavers now head to the University of Chicago for a pair of games in the Midway Classic. Find tournament information on the UChicago Athletics website and GoCaltech.com.