Pasadena, Calif. - Men's Basketball improved their record to 5-1 with an 86-65 win over Caltech thanks to a strong second-half effort including a 27-5 run that turned a 52-43 deficit into a 70-57 lead for the Bearcats.  Kai Brown led four Willamette players in double figures for the second game in a row, this time scoring a career-high 20 points.

Looking to sweep their three-game road trip to Southern California, Willamette got off to a great start and scored the first eight points of the contest on back-to-back threes by Kahiau Bruhn and Josiah Frank, and a layup by Anujan Tennathur.  An old-fashioned three-point play by Brown extended the Bearcat lead to ten at 16-6 after his made foul shot.

The Beavers responded with back-to-back triples of their own to cut the lead to four and would begin to work their way back into the game.  Another three by Ryan Hu cut the Bearcat lead to one at 22-21 at the 8:13 mark of the first half and just minutes later a long-range jumper by  Chase Williamson gave Caltech its first lead of the game at 29-28.  Willamette used free throws to pull back in front 37-32, but Caltech scored the final six points of the half and took a 38-37 lead to the break.

Willamette came out of halftime attacking the basket and getting to the foul line, but the Beavers were able to use some power inside and timely outside shooting to take their largest lead of the game just five minutes into the second half at 53-42.

Continuing to attack the basket, the Bearcats went on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes to pull back in front 59-52 on a Caleb Moore steal and layup.  After a Caltech basket, consecutive three-pointers by Tennathur and Ryder Hsiung put Willamette up by eleven at 65-54 and Willamette didn't let Caltech get any closer than nine points the rest of the game.

Brown led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Josiah Frank with 15, Anujan Tennathur with 14, and Caleb Moore with 12.  Kahiau Bruhn led the Bearcats with nine rebounds with Deacon Perry adding six.  Frank led Willamette with five assists while Bruhn dished out four.  Ryder Hsuing and Perry each had two blocked shots.

The next game for the team will be the Northwest Conference opener when they host Lewis & Clark College on Friday, December 6th.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.