PASADENA, Calif. — Playing its third game in as many days, the George Fox men's basketball team fell just short of a perfect trip with a 58-56 loss to the Caltech Beavers on Sunday, Dec. 12.
How It Happened
After their first five minutes, Fox led by one, 8-7, but the Beavers were able to take back control of the game from that point with a quick 9-2 burst. Fox took back the lead briefly with a lay up from Kalu Stricklin with nine minutes left in the first half, but the Bruins missed their next eight shots after that and didn't score again until three minutes remained in the opening half with a trey from Jake Cleary. At the break, the Beavers led by six, 32-36.
Stricklin did his best to ignite the Bruins out of the halftime intermission with hustle plays, offensive boards, and an assist to Zac Shmerber for a fast-break triple that cut the Beavers' lead to two points. Another Stricklin board and fast-break trey from Austin Clark made it a one-point game, and the Bruins battled the rest of the way to the finish.
With seconds remaining in regulation, another Stricklin board set up a go-ahead shot for Fox, but the Beavers fouled and Momo Stokes hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 56-56. On the Beavers' next trip down the court, they drew a shooting foul with one second on the clock and hit both to eke out a 58-56 win in regulation.
Top Performers
Stokes led Fox in the scoring department with 12 bench points, while Stricklin hauled in 10 rebounds to tie for the game lead with Spencer Schneider of Caltech. Stricklin also dished a game-high four assists and notched a key block in the close loss.
What It Means
The Bruins finish their SCIAC swing with a 2-1 record and are now 5-5 on the year.
Up Next
Fox returns home to rest, recover, and focus on finals week before hosting Nebraska Wesleyan on Dec. 29 after the Christmas holiday break.
