LOS ANGELES — The Occidental men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in a 50-49 defensive showdown against Caltech at Rush Gym on Saturday.
The game was physical and both teams gave up just about nothing in a classic slugfest.
But in the end, 6-foot-8, 240-pound Caltech freshman center Pavlos Stavrinides was too much for the Tigers inside, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds, including six at the offensive end of the court.
With 30 seconds left, Stavrinides made the go-ahead basket on a lob over the top for a 3-foot layup.
The Tigers got a good look at a 16-footer from Evan Dray at the other end, but it missed off the back iron.
With the Caltech lead at two points the possession before Stavrinides' go-ahead basket, Caleb Yellin-Flaherty made a clutch corner three, putting Oxy up by one.
Yellin-Flaherty had 17 points and seven rebounds in all 40 minutes played, Dray had 12 points and seven rebounds, Ryan Kaneshiro had nine rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Jacob Adler scored 11 points. Freshman Anthony Hollerich had a solid five-point contribution in 13 bench minutes as well.
Marcus Gee had 19 points to lead Caltech.
Season Impact: Oxy falls to 4-1 on the season.
Caltech improves to 2-2.
Next Game: The Tigers are back in action against Bethesda on Tuesday at 7 p.m.