PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech men's basketball team hosted the Panthers of Chapman University on Wednesday in an evening interconference matchup at Braun Gymnasium. 

Both squads entered the game hungry for a win with the two teams just narrowly losing their most recent contests.

Sophomore guard Noah Hicks (Oxford, Ga. / George Walton Academy) kicked off the scoring for the Beavers by route of a free throw before first-year wing-forward Ryan Hu (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport) downed the group's first field goal on a good midrange jumper. 

First-year gurad-wing Andrew Koclanes (Denver / Colorado Acadmy) drained the team's first shot from distance about five minutes into the action after receiving the feed from junior wing-forward Evan Portnoi (Short Hills, N.J. / Northfield Mount Hermon).

The two teams traded buckets on a number of possessions before the Panthers pulled ahead.

Hicks led the Beavers in scoring with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and a 5-for-6 performance from the charity stripe.  

Junior forward Riley Wood (Richmond, Va. St. Christopher's School) led all players from both teams in rebounds (eight), with four coming on the offensive glass. 

Portnoi and first-year guard-wing Christos Palkogiannis (Thessaloniki, Greece Landon School) each drained a pair of triples. 

As a team, the Beavers scored 12 of their points on Chapman turnovers; they earned six points from second-chance opportunities. Caltech recorded 10 assists to make it eight straight games with 10 or more.  The team brought down eight offensive boards and scored 16 points in the paint. 

Next up for head coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger and the Beavers is a road battle against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday, Feb. 3. Action tips off just after 2 p.m.; follow along at gocaltech.com/coverage. 

Follow Caltech Men's Basketball on Twitter/X and Instagram and follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.