MEN'S BASKETBALL

The Caltech men placed four players in double figures and converted 28 of 33 free throws to ink its first victory of the season, 77-69, over Polytechnic Institute of NYU.

The Beavers opened the game with a 7-0 spurt led by Wei Li's 3-pointer and a Matt Dellatorre steal and lay-up. After Dellatorre hit another shot from behind the arc, Caltech's defense helped the home team forge ahead as it finished the last six minutes with an 11-2 run.

The inside play of Travis Haussler at both ends enabled the Beavers to establish a 40-24 halftime lead as they held the visiting Blue Jays to 33 percent shooting from the field. Haussler had 14 points, six boards, and four monster blocks in the first stanza while Caltech shot 50 percent from the floor.

After Polytechnic scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut the Caltech lead to 12, 40-28, the Beavers extended the margin to 17 thanks to a steal by Ryan Elmquist and a three by Dellatorre. Although the visitors managed to trim the lead to as low as four points on four different occasions, the Beavers held on to secure the victory - the first for new head coach Oliver Eslinger and his staff.

Dellatorre and Elmquist paced Caltech in the second stanza with 17 and 10, respectively, as the home crowd cheered on the Beavers with a raucous standing ovation.

Dellatorre finished with 27 points, 10 boards, three assists, and three steals. Haussler added 19 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and five blocked shots. Elmquist was good for 14 points while Li had a season high 11 points and zero turnovers in 40 minutes of action.

 The Beavers open SCIAC play this Saturday, January 10th at Pomona-Pitzer.

 BOXSCORE

GO TECH!!!