LA VERNE, Calif. (Jan. 4, 2020) – The Caltech men's basketball team kicked off the New Year with an incredible 77-76 overtime victory at the University of La Verne on Saturday evening in the Beavers' first SCIAC game of the 2019-20 season. The win moves the Beavers to 2-0 in overtime games this season and marks the first time the men's basketball team has ever won three NCAA road games in a single season.
"We knew it would be a battle," Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger said. "The level of focus and intensity seems to multiply in SCIAC games because they all mean so much. We expected to stick to our principles and perform going into tonight, and we are battle-tested. The returners on this team won a lot of close games last year, and we believe when it gets close we will always get the job done. We work on it. We talk about it. We visualize it."
The host Leopards came out hungry, looking for their first SCIAC win in nearly two years, but the Beavers proved to be an even match intensity-wise, with neither team leading by more than two possessions over the length of the contest, nor outscoring one another by more than a single point in either half. Even still, Caltech needed some late-game heroics from its key players in order to force the extra period, trailing by four points with two minutes remaining. With 30 seconds to go in regulation, junior Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica) knocked down one of his biggest three-pointers to date from the top of the key off a quick kick-out pass from sophomore Noah Barnes (Springfield, Va. / Jefferson). Barnes corralled the ball with the Beavers' second offensive rebound of the possession, putting the pressure back on La Verne.
The Leopards went on to hit a pair of free throws and got the ball back with a chance to win the game, but Caltech freshman Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cyprus / The English School of Nicosia) opted to foul the home team on an open drive, forcing the Leopards to have to win the game at the line. La Verne went on to miss both free throws, forcing the two teams to regroup for five more minutes on the court. However, the Beavers would be without Stavrinides for the extra period, who by saving the game for the visiting team, picked up his fifth personal foul. His final line: 17 points, 10 rebounds and one block in 28 minutes.
"In overtime, we just say, 'hey, we get to play some more basketball,'" Eslinger said. "We talked about getting stops and making plays and we made just enough to come out on top this time."
The Beavers set out to assert themselves in overtime, scoring the first four points beginning with a three-pointer from senior Alec Andrews. However, the Leopards continued to bring the fight and scored the next five points, the last of which came at the 19-second mark. After a Caltech timeout, Andrews brought the ball up as the visitors got set. However, the Beavers ultimately caught the Leopards sleeping defensively, as Gee drove to the hoop and converted on a beautiful alley-oop layup to put the Beavers up 77-76 with nine seconds to go. The Leopards ended up having two more chances to win the game in the closing seconds, but the Caltech defense stood tall in crunch time, moving the Beavers to 1-0 in SCIAC play.
"In games like tonight, it's mostly mental," Eslinger said. "We keep working on our defense and let that fuel us and the guys really do a nice job executing whatever our offensive goals are. We also want everyone to always be ready. We have different guys step up in those situations and segments."
Gee's 18 points headlined a game that saw four Caltech starters notch at least 15 points. Barnes shot 50-percent from the field on the way to his 15, and Andrews also scored 15 points while dishing on seven of the Beavers' 11 assists. Caltech also got key minutes off the bench from sophomore Stephen Hei (Newcastle, Wash. / Liberty) and senior Aaron Ayres (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills), who combined on eight points and 12 rebounds while playing at least 18 minutes apiece.
Eslinger and the Beavers will have Sunday off before resuming the regular season with a busy week at home, starting with Occidental College on Monday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.
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