Claremont bucks Panthers to end home winning streak

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team had its 17-game home winning streak snapped with a 57-45 loss to visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Wednesday night at Hutton Center. The last time the Panthers lost on their own floor was Dec. 5, 2009 against – who else? – Claremont. The loss gives Chapman (4-4) just two wins in its past six games.

After the two teams jockeyed for an early lead through the first 7 minutes of play, Claremont (8-0) went on a 16-4 run midway through the first half and led 26-14 with 6:38 remaining. The Panthers then cut the lead to seven before the buzzer thanks to a bucket from freshman G Jordan Young and Chapman trailed 30-23 at halftime.

A layup from senior F Ben Ricard to open the second half pulled the Panthers within five, but that was as close as they would get. Claremont built its lead back to a double-digit margin then used a 9-0 run to open up a 54-36 advantage with 6:28 left in the game.

For the Stags, graduate F Chris Blees scored a team-high 12 points and added eight rebounds. Sophomore G Tyler Gaffaney and senior F Joseph Anderson pitched in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Chapman also had three players reach double figures in scoring, led by sophomore F Nick Dragovich who dropped 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting from off the bench. Ricard and senior G Brandon Lin each scored 10. Ricard was just one rebound shy (nine) of a double-double and added a team-high three assists.

The Panthers shot 43.2 percent from the field, including just 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from three-point range.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/boxscores/20111201_yvo0.xml

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