PASADENA (Feb. 1, 2020) – Another sterling performance on the basketball court led the Caltech men's team to make history for a second game in a row, this time at home against the University of La Verne. The Beavers handled the Leopards 83-56 for the largest margin of victory ever for the program against SCIAC competition (27 points). If the achievement sounds familiar, the men's basketball team previously set the record on Wednesday at Whittier College with a 26-point victory.

However, the means of which Caltech handled its business on Saturday afternoon varied greatly from Wednesday evening.

While the Beavers managed to shoot 50-percent from the field for a second consecutive game, stifling defense limited opportunities for the Leopards' most talented players in the first half. Caltech came away with eight of its 11 steals over this stretch, three of which came from junior Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook). As a result, the Beavers held the Leopards to just 24 first-half points and the offense went to work from there. Junior guard Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica), the SCIAC's second-leading scorer dumped in an impressive 25 points in 22 minutes while going 10-for-16 from the field. When the La Verne attack began to work its way out of the doldrums at around the 10-minute mark, the Beavers' key players responded and slammed the door shut on any hope the visitors had for a comeback. Back-to-back baskets from Gee and Schneider at the between the sixth and fifth minutes in regulation provided the exclamation point the Beavers needed to earn their third-consecutive victory.

"The guys are understanding the essence of the moment," Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger said. "They're also enjoying everything that goes into working hard mentally and physically. It's enjoyable to witness our players helping one another on all phases of the game. We are getting huge lifts from everyone."

Caltech led by as many as 31 points at 11:20 in the second half. Arguably the team's strongest all-around performance came on the shoulders of freshman forward Pavlos Stavrinides (Nicosia, Cyprus / The English School of Nicosia), who shut the Leopards down in the paint with three blocks while double-doubling with 12 points and 11 rebounds and picking up three assists. Stavrinides' willingness to get his teammates involved allowed the Beavers' role players a chance to shine as well. Junior guard Michael Li (Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Radnor) converted on a pair of tough layups to mount pressure onto the visitors early in the second half and senior Bret Johnson (Carlsbad, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) made the most of his opportunities, converting on a pair of three-pointers late, his only two shot attempts of the game. The men's basketball team also saw key minutes from junior big man Calvin Huh (Fort Lee, N.J. / Bergen Tech), freshman guard Chase Pagon (Solana Beach, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) and junior wing Stephen Hei (Newcastle, Wash. / Liberty). 

"We made sure to remind one another about our game plan," Eslinger said. "The goal today wsa just to execute to the best of our collective ability."

Eslinger and the Beavers will have the week off to prepare for their next challenge against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on the road next Saturday. The Stags are tied with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges for first place, who will be on deck for the Beavers during the ensuing week. A win against one of the SCIAC's two perennial stalwarts would only further serve to increase the Beavers' playoff outlook, but Eslinger and his team are determined to take things one day at a time.

"History is history," Eslinger said. "All that matters is what we do now and next. We will take it one day, one practice, one game at a time. We're not concerned with the layoff. It'll be good to have an off day."

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