Panthers keep rolling with fourth straight win

ORANGE, Calif. – In its final game before a brief holiday break, the Chapman University men's basketball team withstood several second-half surges by Pacific Lutheran to earn a 75-64 win at the Hutton Sports Center on Sunday. The victory marked the fourth straight win for the Panthers, their longest since January 16-26 of last season.

The battle-tested Panthers delivered several clutch shots down the stretch with the most important coming from G Colin Zavrsnick. The junior nailed a three-pointer with 2:14 left, giving Chapman a four-point lead that it would not relinquish. The Panthers were able to secure the victory from the charity stripe, draining 18-of-21 shots in the second half, contributing to their stellar 29-of-33 showing on the night.

Chapman (7-3) appeared as though they would put the game away early, responding to an initial Lutes lead with an 11-0 run with 7:41 left in the first half that led to a seven-point half time lead. The Lutes remained resilient in the second half, however, pulling to within one point on three separate occasions but never recapturing the lead.

Pacific Lutheran's Kai Hoyt made a valiant effort late in the contest, scoring eight of his game-high 19 points while causing multiple turnovers.

Building upon their record-setting pace, the Panthers continued to shoot well from long distance, hitting 57.1 percent (4-for-7) of their three-point shots to improve their season mark to 41.9 percent.

The Panthers will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 29 as they take on Cornell (IA) at the Hutton Sports Center at 3 p.m. A win over Cornell would mark Chapman's longest winning streak since the 2011-12 season.

Box score: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20131222_urd9.xml

by Ryan Cavinder
Sports Information Assistant

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