Caltech Wins First Conference Game Since 1985

PASADENA, Calif. — Caltech ended its 310-game conference losing streak in men's basketball Tuesday night, beating Occidental College 46-45 in its season finale.

Ryan Elmquist hit the go-ahead free throw with 3 seconds left for the Division III Beavers, who had lost every Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game they had played since Jan. 23, 1985.

"I hope that everyone who has participated in Caltech men's basketball is able to celebrate a little bit tonight," Caltech coach Oliver Eslinger said. "We still have goals and aspirations that we want to accomplish as a program, and this win is another step towards meeting these objectives."

Caltech is a famed private research university with a heavy emphasis on science and engineering. The school has just 950 undergraduates and doesn't give out athletic scholarships, but 31 alumni and faculty have won the Nobel Prize.

Caltech finished the season 5-20, its best record in 15 years. The Beavers went 0-25 last season and hadn't won more than one game in any of their previous eight seasons – but back in 2007, Caltech ended an NCAA-record 207-game losing streak with a victory over Bard College of New York.

The Beavers have a great sense of humor about their athletic struggles, but they still celebrated at the Braun Athletic Center after Occidental missed its desperation shot at the buzzer.

When Caltech won its last conference game more than 26 years ago, four-time NBA champion coach Gregg Popovich was running the bench at SCIAC rival Pomona-Pitzer.

Not everything is looking up athletically at Caltech: The women's basketball team finished its season 0-25, losing to Occidental 82-35 on Tuesday night.

Comments

[chiodo08]

02:36 PM on 02/24/2011

"Caltech is a famed private research university with a heavy emphasis on science and engineering."..translation-Asian players

[War man101]

01:21 PM on 02/24/2011

My cousin is the strength and conditioning coach for the Beavers< they worked just a hard on the court as the classroom, it is great for them to finally get that allusive win.

[fredvh]

09:08 AM on 02/24/2011

a great documentary bout the basketball program at Cal Tech is called "Quantumhoops'.
if you ever get a chance to see it, i would.
the DVD extras are awsome too.

[goldengirl43]

09:49 PM on 02/23/2011

Nerds rule! Ask Bill Gates!

[lunchtimereader]

03:52 PM on 02/23/2011

Caltech is already a winner by focusing on math and science. The athletics is just odds and ends.

U go to college to learn and excel in academics and hopefully, discover new tech that will help humankind. Winning a Superbowl or whatever doesn't do that.

While we worship our sports stars, our education system is crumbling. The Romans called it, "Bread and Circus."

[HoneyBunches]

03:49 PM on 02/23/2011

Average Starting Salary: $150,000

[confusus says]

03:42 PM on 02/23/2011

This is how college sports should be, college athletes having fun with emphasis on college.

[JFD8]

03:17 PM on 02/23/2011

Though Caltech at last didn't lose
There's no celebration with booze;
Such overachievers
Are these busy Beavers
When they have a gas, they diffuse.

News Short n' Sweet by JFD8
http://twitter.com/JFD8

[idisVA]

03:15 PM on 02/23/2011

The longest day has a night. GO CALTECH.

[dennissinned]

03:02 PM on 02/23/2011

I had no idea they had an athletic department.

[SENCvoter]

02:54 PM on 02/23/2011

Sweeeeet!

[Mika S]

02:31 PM on 02/23/2011

sweet : )

[quayde]

04:05 PM on 02/23/2011

You are looking pretty sweet yourself.

[yavuz]

05:25 PM on 02/23/2011

for a caltech nerd!

just kidding :)

[Danilo-11]

02:03 PM on 02/23/2011

When I was a Missouri S&T the football team lost every single game for 2 years.... and all of the players got full scholarships, unlike other sports

[MiddleWestern]

01:50 PM on 02/23/2011

Nobel prize for the most appropriate athletic mascot.

[steph81]

02:25 PM on 02/23/2011

lol - fanned

[directfitz]

01:45 PM on 02/23/2011

CalTech "Fighting Einsteins"???