Season Review: The Beavers are Evolving

Pan Wang scored in double figures in each of the last five games.

As the Caltech basketball program evolves, milestones continue to materialize. The Beavers won program changing games this year during the non-conference slate. Significant wins on the road at West Coast Baptist and Macalester preceded an exciting home win against Babson College, an always strong program from New England. With additional wins over University of Dallas and Pacifica College, all five victories mark the first time Caltech triumphed against said schools. The Beavers played competitive games against several SCIAC opponents, and along the way more records were set.

• On the season, Caltech made 158 3-pointers, breaking the record set during Coach Eslinger's first season (up from 133)
• The Beavers also eclipsed their mark set last year for 3-point attempts (455), this year upping the total to 535
• The 95 points scored in the win at West Coast Baptist are the most points scored in a road game win in team lore 
• Through the initial part of the season, Caltech held high national rankings in several categories (stat, rank):
• 3-point field goals per game (9.0 per game, 21st)
• 3-point FG% (40.9%, 23rd)
• 3-point FG% defense (27.2%, 28th)
• assists per game (18.0 apg, 19th)
• Caltech finished the season ranked No. 100 in 3-point FG% defense (32%), 168th in 3-point makes per game (6.3), and 211th in steals (7.2), showing significant improvement from a year ago (up from 34.6%, 258th ... 5.3, 288th ... 5.4, 363th)
• The Beavers' 3-point defense and steals per game were good for second and third in the SCIAC, respectively.
• Junior Michael Edwards, who was named to the all-conference second team, scored his 1,000 point during the Babson game and finished the season with 1,200 career points. With the mark, he moved past the legendary Fred Anson '54 and into fourth all-time on the career scoring list. He needs just 98 more to pass George Papa '94 and become the program's scoring leader.
• Edwards scored a season-high 28 points in a home win versus Pacifica College.
• Junior Ethan Boroson tied a program record with 5 steals in the game against Babson, tying the figure set by Matt Dellatorre '09.
• Junior Alex Runkel recorded three double-doubles, including an emphatic one in a close game against Occidental where he scored 16 points and hauled in 16 rebounds.
• Juniors Collin Murphy (15 points at Redlands) and Pan Wang (20 points vs Whittier) set career-highs for points in a game.
• Sophomore Mike Paluchniak scored a season-high 10 points on two occasions (vs UC Santa Cruz and at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps).
• Freshmen Andrew Hogue and Bryan Joel etched their names into the program's top 10 for 3-point field goal percentage in a season (.333 and .367, respectively). They each scored 16 points versus La Verne, a season-high for Hogue, while Joel poured in a season-high 22 at West Coast Baptist.
• Edwards, Hogue, Joel, and Wang each hit at least four 3-pointers in one game on separate occasions.
• Seven different players led Caltech in scoring or rebounding in separate contests during the season.

2012 Alumni Event Recap

The annual alumni event took place on February 4, and what a day it was. Another great turnout paved the way for a fun-filled alumni game as Team Turk was able to hold onto it's lead in the final seconds over Team Papa. Besides terrific competition, Caltech junior Collin Murphy provided some unforgettable color commentary during the game. (He even aided the officials with timely calls).

Team Turk was led by Wei Li with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 blocked shot. Scott Davies added 12 points while Ziying Wang and Jon Bird scored 9 each. Their opponents made a valiant comeback, paced by an 18-point, 5-rebound effort from Travis Haussler. Ryan Elmquist aided Team Papa with 15 points while Papa himself scored 13 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and recorded 1 steal. Dave Zito ran the show with several key passes and screens. In the end, Turk, who had 7 points and 6 boards, steadied his team and managed to endure the offensive onslaught by Papa's peeps.

Prior to the varsity game that night, the top rebounders in Caltech history were honored for accumulating 500+ boards during their careers.

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