PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech men's basketball team hosted the Britons of Albion College on Saturday in an afternoon non-conference showdown at Braun Gymnasium. It was the second and final meeting this season for the two squads, who faced off at the Midway Classic Tournament this past month.

The visitors began the game on a nine-point run but Caltech soon responded with some offense of their own as junior wing-forward Evan Portnoi (Short Hills, N.J. / Northfield Mount Hermon) assisted on two 3-pointers. The East Coaster found first-year guard-wing Andrew Koclanes (Denver / Colorado Academy) to put Caltech on the board before Portnoi connected with first-year wing-forward Pranit Gunjal (Newark, Del. / Newark Charter), who downed a long range shot of his own.

Gunjal's triple began an 18-9 run for the Beavers, who were helped immensely on the offensive end by sophomore guard Noah Hicks (Oxford, Ga. / George Walton Academy). The standout earned his first points of the day off two made free throws before draining a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
 
Junior forward Riley Wood (Richmond, Va. / St. Christopher's School) found first-year wing-forward Ryan Hu (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport) for a trey at the 7:46 mark of the half to electrify the Caltech bench and put the Beavers within a bucket at 23-21. Albion went on to score five straight points, though a layup from Hicks put the team back within one possession.

The Britons pulled ahead in the final few minutes of the half; Caltech could not catch back up despite Hicks scoring 11 points in his 17 second half minutes.

Caltech downed seven deep shots in the matchup; they collected 30 rebounds. The Beavers made 17 free throws to Albion's 12.

Hicks led all players in points with 23, shooting 6-for-10 from the field overall and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. The captain went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Portnoi recorded a game and career-high four assists in just eight minutes of action. Wood led Caltech in rebounding, with six.

Next up for head coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger and the group is another non-conference home contest as the program hosts Buena Vista University this Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. Cheer on Caltech in person or follow along online at gocaltech.com/coverage.

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