They finally figured it out
Maybe lost among the stories of UCLA's loss to Oregon on Saturday was this tiny mention of a victory by Caltech's basketball team.
The mighty Beavers' 81-52 win over something card the Bard College of New York means that the Pasadena brainiac school's 11-year losing streak -- that's 207 games -- was finally over.
What were the odds that the streak would have continued? Only a Caltecher could have figured that one out.
Travis Haussler had 27 points and eight rebounds, and Matt Dellatorre added 24 points and eight rebounds to lead Tech, who actually have a coach.
"We expected to win a game, but not like this," Caltech coach Roy Dow said of the surprisingly one-sided victory.
"It was a combination of a sense of relief and happiness for the kids. They were euphoric."
It was the Beavers' first win in 60 games overall, including non-NCAA foes.
Caltech next will try to end an even longer losing streak, 245 consecutive defeats in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play going back almost 22 years. The Beavers haven't begun league play yet this season. Amd it's not easy finding the CalTech athletic schedule. They don't even have a link to the school's athletics on the website's home page.
The upcoming Caltech schedule includes Thursday at Occidental and Saturday against Pomona-Pitzers. Cal Lutheran has them on the SCIAC schedule Jan. 27 and Feb. 19.
Like other Division III schools, Caltech does not offer athletic scholarships, and many of its players didn't so much as play varsity basketball in high school.
But Bard College ... a school that came in with a 1-9 record (it's only win was a four-pointer against a school called Anna Maria College) and whose North Eastern Athletic Conference schedule includes such juggernauts as Philadelphia Biblical College, Baptist Bible College, D'Youville College and Cazenovia College.
In the small but joyous crowd at the game against Bard were new Caltech president Jean-Lou Chameau and his wife, Carol Carmichael, who had arrived from Singapore just two hours before tipoff, Dow said.
"They were the first ones who came across the floor and extended congratulations," the coach said.
He added, "Now we still have to get that other streak."