PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech overcame an eight point halftime deficit to post a 57-52 win over Babson on Saturday evening in a non-conference men's basketball match-up at the Braun Athletic Center.
Michael Edwards became the 12th player in Caltech history to score 1,000 career points. Edwards converted the point with a foul shot early in the first half. The junior posted a game high 25 points in 37 minutes en route to hitting the milestone.
Video - Edwards Post Game Comments
"It was an amazing effort in the second half after a 'so-so' first half. We played with grit on both ends of the floor in the second half and that really shows something about this team's character," head coach Oliver Eslinger said.
In the opening half Babson opened up a lead as large as 13 points at 25-12 with 4:18 left in the stanza. Caltech dwindled their deficit down to eight points at the halftime buzzer (27-19). The visitors helped build their halftime lead by working the ball down low as they held a 10-0 edge in points in the paint. Caltech went 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from the field but converted on nine of their 10 shots from the charity stripe.
Babson took their largest lead of the second half with an Alex Rudolph lay-up with 17:43 left to give the visitors a 33-21 advantage. Caltech responded with a 13-1 scoring spurt to tie the score at 34-34 with 12:53 remaining in the contest. A Babson spurt gave them a 46-38 lead with 5:35 left, but an undaunted Caltech squad responded to set-up an exciting finish.
Caltech took their first lead of the second half at 48-47 after an Andrew Hogue lay-up with 2:32 left. The home squad wouldn't relinquish the lead down the stretch. After a pair of Edwards' foul shots grew the Caltech edge to 50-47 with 2:05 remaining, Babson came down on their ensuing possession to tie the score on a Marcus McDermott three-pointer with 91 seconds left.
Hogue converted a three-point play on Caltech's next possession with 59 ticks on the clock. Babson turned the ball over on their next possession with 51 seconds remaining. Edwards sealed the win for Caltech with a three-pointer late in the shot clock with 19 seconds left. The triple gave Caltech a six-point edge and their largest lead of the game at 56-50.
Video - Hogue lay-up and foul
Caltech rebounded from a tough shooting first half by converting 13 of their 23 (56.5 percent) field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes of action. The home squad held a 16-5 edge in points off turnovers during the final stanza to aid in their comeback win.
The first year duo of Bryan Joel and Hogue came off the bench to chip in 11 and 10 points respectively. Hogue grabbed a game best seven rebounds.
Matt Palazini had a team high 13 points to pace the Babson effort.
The Beavers play their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday when they entertain Mt. St. Mary (NY) at 5:00 p.m.