Panthers come up short in second half against Cal Lu

In its first of seven straight home games, the Chapman University men's basketball team lost a tough battle to Cal Lutheran, 84-81 on Saturday night at the Hutton Sports Center. The Panthers and Kingsmen exchanged leads 24 times, but Cal Lu shot 66.7 percent in the second half to hold on for the win.

The back-and-forth game kept Panthers fans enthralled until the bitter end when a desperation three-pointer from junior G Taylor Hamasaki came up short to seal the Kigsmen win. The loss marks the first for the Panthers in conference this season, following an impressive win over the reigning champion Redlands Bulldogs on Wednesday.

Chapman (3-1, 1-1 SCIAC) took control of the game early, jumping out to a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes, but saw its lead diminish quickly as Cal Lu F Coltraine Powdrill scored six points in less than four minutes en route to his game-high 25 points. From that point forward, the Panthers never led by more than four.

The lead continued to change hands until the Kingsmen mounted an 11-4 run with just under five minutes left in the game. Kingsmen C Corey Quintana poured in six points in the two minute span that put the Panthers on the defensive, forcing them to foul for the remainder of the contest.

Senior F Nick Dragovich secured his second straight double-double, scoring 11 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Junior G Colin Zavrsnick scored a team-high 20 points, his sixth straight game scoring in double-digits and second time tallying 20+ points.

Up next, the Panthers will host West Coast Baptist on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before jumping back into conference play in a showdown with Whittier on Monday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

Box score: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20131207_k8h6.xml

by Ryan Cavinder

Sports Information Assistant

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