Chapman welcomes Afghanistan National Team in final exhibition

ORANGE, Calif. - For the second straight year, the Chapman University men's basketball team will welcome the Afghanistan National Team to the Harold Hutton Sports Center on Thursday night. The game will be the Panthers' final exhibition tune-up before opening the season in Claremont on Monday.

The Afghanistan National Team is currently 3-3 in the midst of its 2008-09 USA Tour, having lost most recently to Vanguard University 85-70 in Costa Mesa on Tuesday night.

The Afghani team is made up entirely of players from the United States, including 11 from California. Four of those players are Orange County natives: Osman Aziz and Omar Sekandary (Irvine), Yousof Etemadi (Laguna Hills) and Farhad Nangialai (Mission Viejo).

Chapman hopes to avenge a 60-54 loss to the Afghanistan National Team last November in a preseason contest. Leading the way for the Panthers will be 2007-08 All-Independents selection, junior G Kyle Wood, who led Chapman with 10.8 points per game and 36 three-pointers a year ago.