PASADENA (Feb. 24, 2020) – The Caltech men's basketball team put its evolution on full display in front of a near-capacity crowd for Saturday's Senior Day home tilt with Chapman University. The Beavers defeated the Panthers, 71-62, giving them their first-ever season sweep of Chapman as well as a record-setting eighth SCIAC victory. Prior to this season, the Beavers had never won more than seven SCIAC games in a season, even in the conference championship season of 1953-54.
In its final home game of the year, Caltech showed the world how far it has come over the past season, as well as bettering its previous high-water mark four years ago, all under the 12-year plan by Head Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger.
"We are all very happy for our players and the program," Eslinger said. "We've definitely evolved as a team, as a staff and as a program. Even last weekend when the alumni were here, they saw it too and those individuals are the ones who helped forge the structure for what we look like now. Too many big plays and performances to count, it takes courage and discipline to do what these guys have done and are doing."
No strangers to adversity, the Beavers overcame some more on Saturday when they erased a 10-point halftime deficit and went on to win by nine points themselves. Chapman took the upper hand of a relatively close first half by ending on a 13-4 run, meaning the Beavers had to strike hard and fast if they were to not let the game get away from them. They did just that, scoring 27 points over the first nine minutes of the second half while Chapman sputtered to just 10 points over that span. Sophomore Stephen Hei (Newcastle, Wash. / Liberty) scored 11 of the final 13 points of the run, hitting a trio of three-pointers as the Panthers struggled to limit the Beavers' open looks. Eventually, the shots began to fall, but as has been the case for much of the season, team defense carried the host Beavers as Chapman made just nine second-half field goals.
"At this point, we have a mature group, so really, the halftime talk was very simple and calm," Eslinger said. "We knew we needed to play better and needed to just stick to our defensive principles. The shots will be there and we will knock them down, but let's get back to playing the scout and relying on our team defense."
Before the game, Caltech honored its four seniors for their contributions to the program over the past four years. Guards Alec Andrews (Folsom, Calif. / Folsom) and Bret Johnson (Carlsbad, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) along with forwards Aaron Ayres (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) and Ross Carter (Sudbury, Mass. / The Rivers School) make up the latest winningest senior class in team history and helped raise the bar one more time with a strong going-away party on their home floor. Andrews posted a solid all-around line (11 points, five rebounds, three assists) and made two-thirds of his field goals. Johnson and Ayres joined Andrews in the starting five and responded by giving the Beavers some key defensive minutes as well as an added threat from the perimeter. Ayres had a pair of open looks from deep and also contributed three rebounds and two assists. Meanwhile, junior forward Spencer Schneider (Houston, Texas / Clearbrook) had a nice all-around line of his own, scoring 13 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Classmate Marcus Gee (Santa Monica, Calif. / Santa Monica)'s clutch free-thow shooting helped ice things down the stretch. Nine of his team-leading 16 points came in the second-half and the junior finished the game 6-for-7 from the line.
The end result of all these strong performances yielded as historic a win as the Beavers have achieved to date. The win also means Caltech will clinch its first fifth-place SCIAC finish since the 2016-17 season, when the Beavers last picked up seven conference wins.
"We did talk about what it means to be a senior at Caltech and to be a four-year player – all the adversity that comes along the way and how we learn to deal with it and embrace it," Eslinger said. "To say our guys are smart would be an understatement. They know we are playing for one another, the name across the front of the jersey and all those that came before us."
Eslinger and the Beavers will now head to Occidental College on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for the season finale where they will have a chance to make some more history. A victory would give Caltech its first SCIAC winning season of the modern era as well as raise the bar to a program-best nine conference wins in a single season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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