MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Hugenerd]

Not following really, just the updates on the score page (either on the Caltech site or on this site).  They usually update 1-2 times a half + halftime.  Final score should be up soon.

[Hugenerd]

Caltech cant hold on...they lose by 6.  Still a pretty darn competitive game.  Where does PP rank in the SCIAC according to those who follow the league more closely?

[cmsme]

Just watched a very intense cms oxy game.  CMS won 57-50 against a very good Oxy team.  I like how Coach Scali is using all his team.  The scoring was spread out amongst the entire team--no one scored in double digits.  Its looking good for the future.

[CMSfan]

CMS 57, Oxy 50

Box Score: http://www.cmsathletics.org/sports/mbkb/2010-11/files/OXY-CMS.HTM

Nice win for the Stags.  Low scoring first half, with CMS leading 21-19 going into the break.  CMS came out hot in the 2nd half, hitting a few threes and extending the lead to double digits.  Oxy closed the gap at the end, but never got closer than six.

For the Stags, seven players had at least six points, and nobody made it to double digits.  Definitely a well-rounded effort.  Of course, it also highlighted the lack of a go-to scorer.  Had they not shot so well from beyond the arc (9-19 overall, 6-10 in the second half), it would have been a different game.  Joey Anderson came up with a couple timely steals and had a game high 10 rebounds; another great all-around performance from him.

Oxy's players struggled to find their shooting touch.  Hanley and McCoy accounted for more than 60% of their offense, but were a combined 11-29 shooting.  They will be competitive, but I can't say I was very impressed with how they looked tonight.  Of course, I imagine this was not their best effort, and I imagine the game @ Oxy will be a tougher one for CMS.

[OxyBob]

Eyewitness report from Pasadena:

Pomona 47, Caltech 41 Final

I headed out to see Oxy-Claremont, but traffic on the 134 and 210 slowed me to a crawl, so I opted for Pomona-Caltech.

In the first half, Caltech led 25-18 at 4:45, and 29-24 at the half. In the second half, CIT led 38-32 at 9:20, but Pomona outscored the Beavers 10-0 over the next 4:30 and led 42-38 at 4:50. Ryan Elmquist finally scored to make it 42-40, but that's as close at Caltech got. The streak continues; that's 298 straight conference losses.

For Pomona, Greg Wright scored 11 and had 16 rebounds. For Caltech, Mike Edwards had 15, and Elmquist scored 12 and had 9 rebounds.

Pomona is usually one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the SCIAC, but tonight the Sagehens were, to put it kindly, inept. Pomona had a distinct height advantage over CIT, and outrebounded the Beavers 54-39, but the Sagehens shot a miserable 29.5%, missed numerous easy layups and put backs, and clanked a lousy 7-for-19 FTs. Probably the worst performance I have ever seen from a Pomona team. Coach Kat will take the win, but I'm sure he was very unhappy with the way his team played.

As for Caltech, yeah they are better, but they're basically a two-man team with no bench whatsoever. The Beavers are scrappy and hustle, and if an opponent has an off night or takes them lightly and lets them hang around then CIT may finally get a SCIAC win. However, until they do, they're still Caltech.

Pomona is 5-7, 1-0 SCIAC, and is home to Whittier on Wednesday. Caltech is 4-8, 0-1, and is home to Redlands.

OxyBob

[Gosox]

Perhaps there ineptness was due to the fact, the shots were contested.  Caltech lost, simply put.  Neither teams shot well, and Pomona prevailed in the end.  Pomona 29.5% and Caltech 27.1%

However, I guess it is still the same old Oxybob.

[WoostAr]

OxyBob,


Your post a couple days ago claiming Roy Dow revived Caltech basketball and Coach Eslinger hasn't done much is inept at best and insulting at worst.  It is true that Elmquist came in under Dow...however, he only played one season under Dow so it's hard to say that his play is a result of his coaching.  (also if my memory serves, he wasn't recruited, he went to Caltech and decided to play ball later....can't credit Dow for that)  Disregarding that point, Caltech starts 4 underclassmen ALL of which were recruited by Eslinger.  Additionally, the entire bench, outside of Ziying Wang (plays minimally) came in under Eslinger.  Furthermore, the team runs Eslinger's system, are competitive in games to the point they took Merchant Marine (a team with pre-season top 25 votes) down to the wire, and are garnering positive press as opposed to press that celebrates losing (eg. quantum hoops). 

I also completely disagree with your view of the game yesterday....saying that this team is "still Caltech" (I'm assuming you mean that they haven't made any progress towards becoming a better team) is downright wrong!  If you watched the teams during the Roy Dow era you would have seen a team that bumbled balls all over the court and couldn't beat a press to save it's life.  When they were pressed last night (happened once) they beat it easily and Edwards hit a three.....Pomona didn't press the rest of the evening.  Caltech turned the ball over ten times last night, fewer than their opposition....still Caltech??  Caltech's defense held a team to under 30% shooting last night....still Caltech??  Caltech ran an offense which resulted in open look after open look (simply couldn't convert them...they're young, that'll change)....still Caltech??  Caltech starts 4 varsity standouts and has others coming off their bench after only two years of recruits.....still Caltech??  All of this while starting 5 players who were either #1 or #2 academically in their high school classes....still Caltech!!

.....One day soon, sir, you will see Oxy players going to work for the players that beat up on them in the SCIAC.

[Gray Fox]

WoostAr,

I usually give a first post an automatic applause.  I didn't smite you, but you failed the test.
Good  luck in the future.

[dahlby]

"All of this while starting 5 players who were either #1 or #2 academically in their high school classes....still Cal Tech!!"

Great comment! Plus K for you!

Welcome to the boards, always enjoy another "eyewitness report from...."!!!

[David Collinge]

I'm very curious about the significance of your posting name, WoostAr.  Care to share? 

I once wore some Wooster gear while visiting Reno, NV, and had strangers waving at me and even stopping to greet me.  It turns out that there's a big Wooster High School there.  Nobody I talked to was aware of any other 'Wooster' in the USA.

I think Roy Dow did a great job at Caltech, and I think Oliver Eslinger is also doing a great job there.  I wish them great success. 

[WoostAr]

I'm very curious about the significance of your posting name, WoostAr.  Care to share? 

I once wore some Wooster gear while visiting Reno, NV, and had strangers waving at me and even stopping to greet me.  It turns out that there's a big Wooster High School there.  Nobody I talked to was aware of any other 'Wooster' in the USA.

I think Roy Dow did a great job at Caltech, and I think Oliver Eslinger is also doing a great job there.  I wish them great success. 

--David....I went to the College of Wooster OH...check out #1 on d3hoops.com top 25!!

WoostAr,

I usually give a first post an automatic applause.  I didn't smite you, but you failed the test.
Good  luck in the future.

--Gray Fox....uhhhh....que?

[OxyBob]

If you watched the teams during the Roy Dow era you would have seen a team that bumbled balls all over the court and couldn't beat a press to save it's life. 

I am new to this. I have only been watching SCIAC basketball for the last 35 years. I defer to your greater knowledge.

I didn't smite you, but you failed the test.

I haven't heard this much yapping outside the chihuahua ring at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

OxyBob

[Gosox]

Keyword: "watching"   

[OxyBob]

Article from the Whittier Daily News about Pomona-Caltech:

AREA COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Caltech's conference losing streak hits 298

And this item from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

SCIAC men's race looks like a tossup

Saturday marked the first full slate of games in the SCIAC and it looks like the competition will be particularly stiff on the men's side after the four games were determined by a total of 20 points.

No teams in the conference have winning records. Cal Lutheran, Occidental and Whittier are all 6-6, but Whittier was the only one of that trio that won its SCIAC opener.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5-6, 1-0) has won the past two regular-season titles but has come back to the pack after losing two-time SCIAC Player of the Year Chris Blees to a knee injury in the second game. Sophomore center Greyson Blue sustained a broken leg in the final nonconference game.

CMS coach Ken Scalmanini and La Verne counterpart Richard Reed both say graduation to top players has led to the parity.

"It's a little down because of that, but we'll probably bounce right back next year," Scalmanini said.

With the conference a little down as a whole, most expect Caltech to snap its 298-game conference losing streak that dates back to 1985 - before any of the Beavers players were even born.

Caltech (4-8, 0-1) will host Redlands (4-8, 1-0) on Wednesday and play at La Verne (5-7, 0-1) on Saturday. Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.

"We're all rooting for them," Reed said. "But we don't want it to be against us."

OxyBob

[WoostAr]

I am new to this. I have only been watching SCIAC basketball for the last 35 years. I defer to your greater knowledge.

....not sure how much basketball you have seen relates to my statements, though it is impressive that you have followed one conference for so long....I've watched at least half of caltech's home games in each of the last five years and I've played with all of the Caltech players over that span and the improvement in the last two years is startling.....alas, I can't compare them to the players of yesteryear. 

Near as I can tell, you are either disputing that Caltech's turnovers are down or that their ball control hasn't improved or that Caltech can't beat a press??  Stats will prove me right on all these points....turnovers are down an average of 7 turns a contest from last year and they've been below their season average of late suggesting further improvement....also a scoring margin of -30.4 has been reduced to -8.2 because games don't turn into a track meet when opponents press.  This point is further driven home by the number of shots Caltech takes per game compared to their opponent....they are within ten shot attempts  (or fewer) per game of their opponent where as last year there was consistently a 25 shot discrepancy.  (You'll have to research that one to realize I'm right because it's not in a summarized box score).....why is that stat pertinent?....because it proves they aren't turning the ball over to a press before they get into their half court set, but rather getting the ball into a set and getting shots out of that set.