Caltech Earns First International Win at Circol Catolic

Badalona, Spain -- Shaking off the sluggishness from Monday's game, Caltech bounced back in superb fashion as it beat Circol Catolic 72-69 in the same gym where the 1992 Dream Team held practices. Circol holds third place in the table while Neus, the opponent from Monday night, is 12th.

Circol, another Senior A Squad from Badalona, jumped out to early 9-point leads at 11-2 and 14-5. Caltech, led by the tandem of Bryan Joel and Nasser Al-Rayes, trimmed the deficit to 3 at the end of the first quarter, 19-16.

In the second period, the home team continued to put up points on the back of shooting guard Quim Forteza, who led Circol with 26 points. Caltech kept the margin close as Al-Rayes began to take over. He scored 10 in the second ten minutes and finished the half with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Circol, which led 35-34 at the half, began the second half on a 6-0 run and scored on its first five possessions. However, the Beavers responded brilliantly and grabbed their first lead of the game on a steal and layup by Luke Lango with 2:15 left in the third. Al-Rayes kept up his torrid scoring with six more points and Joel hit two of his game-high six 3-pointers in the quarter.

The game went back and forth until the middle of the fourth period when Caltech took the lead for good on a Lawrence Lee (14 points and 6 boards) offensive rebound and put-back with six minutes remaining.

"We were much more in sync this game," said Lee. "We all felt much better."

While the Beavers never trailed the rest of the contest, they weren't able to extend the margin past four. Circol  kept it close thanks to Forteza (6 points in the period) and the masterful passing of point guard Pau Ruzafa. A Ruzafa lay-in cut the Caltech lead to 67-66 with 35 seconds to go.

With the shot clock winding down the ball ended up in Joel's hands and he was forced to take a 30-footer (~9 meters) -- that he buried to seemingly give Caltech complete control of the game. The 4-point lead with 15 seconds to play didn't last long.  After hitting five 3's in the first half, Circol responded with its first and only 3 of the second on the ensuing possession. Caltech's lead shrunk to 1 with six seconds to play. From there Luke Lango (4 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) calmly sank two free throws to extend the lead to 3 with 6.9 seconds to play. Circol, who had taken care of the ball wonderfully all game (7 turnovers to Caltech's 16), stepped out of bounds trying to receive the inbounds pass, and all but sealed the Caltech win.

"We played solid team basketball," said Al-Rayes. "All night, I was getting good looks."

Al-Rayes finished the game with a game-high 27 points and 16 rebounds while Joel tallied 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists to propel the Beavers. The visitors won the boards for the second night in a row 50-41. Caltech, now 1-1 on the international tour, plays Thursday night against Sferic Basquet.

Beavers Play Tight Opening Game in Badalona

Badalona, Spain -- The Caltech men's basketball team, playing in another country for the first time in history, entered the gymnasium in Badalona to an energized group of fans and a welcoming opponent. Basquet Neus, a club that plays in the Senior A League, was on a four-game winning streak and looking forward to the international exhibition game. Though both teams were ice cold in the first quarter, the action heated up in the second frame and carried into the next 20 minutes.

Despite hitting 12 3's in its last contest, Basquet Neus only hit one in the first half -- and just four in the game -- but still managed to grab a 28-25 lead at the half. Coming out of halftime the home squad went on a 21-9 run off of 7 Caltech turnovers to take a 15-point lead with 2 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. From there Caltech rallied to get back into the game thanks to Kc Emezie, who had a game-high 19 points 11 rebounds, and Andrew Hogue, who tallied 9 points, a game-high 14 rebounds, and 5 assists. Caltech was able to cut the deficit to two points twice, once at 53-51 and the other at 59-57. After cutting it to 2 for the second time, Basquet went on a 8-1 run to seemingly take control of the game with a little over a minute to play. Ricky Galliani (9 points, 3 rebounds) scored on the next possession and Bryan Joel (10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals) got a steal and hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 3 with under 30 seconds to play. Caltech was able to force a miss on Basquet's next turn but, unable to corral the miss, the home team maintained the ball. The Spanish team was able to put the game away at the free throw line and won 68-64.

Caltech was 12 of 15 from the foul line, thanks in large part to Nasser Al-Rayes going a perfect 8 for 8. Basquet Neus shot 24 free throws but only made 13 and had 14 turnovers. Caltech won the rebounding battle 45-43. A very friendly post game exchange led to a jubilant celebration as both teams mingled, took photos, and engaged in ultimate sportsmanship.

Basquet Neus extends its winning streak to a season long 5 games while Caltech plays again Wednesday night against Circol Catolic, another team in the same league.

Stay updated with the journey on facebook.com/caltechbasketball and @CaltechHoops.

Spain 2014

Men's basketball is on it's first-ever international tour. After a long day+ of traveling, the team made it to Barcelona where it will engage in cultural experiences and sightseeing as well as compete in four exhibition games against club teams from the Barcelona area.

Check back for daily updates. You can also follow happenings on Twitter @CaltechHoops and Facebook.

Doc's Basketball Academy is Back!

This summer, Coach Eslinger and his staff will host their annual Youth Academy and Elite Academy.

Youth Academy
for boys

June 16-20
grades 3-5, 9 am - Noon
grades 6-8, 1 pm - 4 pm

June 23-27
grades 3-5, 9 am - Noon
grades 6-8, 1 pm - 4 pm


Elite Academy
for the serious high school player, entering grades 9-12

June 27-28

All details and registration info here: docsbballacademy.com

Young Jams

Post by Caltech Basketball.

Alumni Event 2014

Men's Basketball Alumni: It's time to get back and lace 'em up!

On Saturday, January 25 come back to campus for our annual alumni event and then watch the varsity squad play at 5 pm.

The alumni vs. alumni game will start at noon time. After that, enjoy a meal with the team and then root your Beavers on that evening.

Questions and RSVP to hoopitup caltech edu.

Golf and Auction Event in November

Attention golfers, supporters, sponsors, and fans: The next Men's Basketball Golf Event and Fundraiser will be November 8 at Brookside! See the brochure below or click here to print (outside brochure and inside brochure)!

UPDATE: Please note the shotgun start tee time is 12:00 pm. Registration is open at 10 am.
Dinner and Auctions start at 5:30 pm.

Funds raised will support the team's first European Tour set to take place in 2014. Be a part of the experience! Golf, Food, Fun.

Registration is NOW OPEN for golfers and sponsors. Just go to the registration form here to sign up online. Otherwise, print the brochure and mail to the Caltech Men's Basketball office.

To complete your registration, please send a check to Caltech Men's Basketball (1200 E Cali Blvd, MC 1-2, Pasadena, CA 91125) or use the PayPal Donate button below to pay by credit card. You must be logged in to PayPal. If you're having trouble send email to caltechbasketball AT gmail DOT com.

Previous Sponsors:

1957 Caltech Football Team
Caltech Investment Office
Congress Medical Associates - Orthopedic Specialists
Cynthia Ingle
Edward Myers and Associates
Eric Geoscience Inc. - Petrophysical Software & Consulting: ericgeoscience.com
LAPPL - Eagle and Badge Foundation
Lucky Guy Catering, still by appointment only
MOCAP Analytics: mocapanalytics.com
Travis Haussler, Class of 2009
Twohey's Restaurant
Virtu Financial

The ONLINE Auction is OPEN -- even if you can't be at the event November 8, you can still support the program...and get a great trip out of it, too! GO HERE for the big items.

TO PRINT THE BROCHURE, FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR THE FRONT AND THIS FOR THE BACK.

Click on images to enlarge.