Men's hoops wins SCIAC tourney, gains berth into NCAA playoffs

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team defeated visiting Cal Lutheran University 79-51 at the Hutton Sports Center on Saturday night to win the SCIAC Postseason Tournament championship and advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the third time in five years.

Chapman (18-9) was led by senior F Nick Dragovich, who recorded his sixth double-double of the season. Dragovich recorded a season-high 13 rebounds and equaled his season-high in points with 16 going 8 of 10 (80 .0 percent) from the field.

Defense led the way in the first half for the Panthers, holding the Kingsmen to just 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) shooting and 0-for-5 from three-point range. The Kingsmen kept it close in the first nine minutes, trailing the Panthers 13-9, until the Panthers began to pull away. Chapman outscored the Kingsmen 16-8 the rest of the period to take a 29-17 lead at the half. 

Chapman – the No. 3 seed in the tournament – maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half as junior C John Joyce scored 12 of his team-high 17 points, in addition to his five rebounds. Cal Lutheran (19-8) was able to cut the Panther lead to 10 when senior G Michael Palmer sunk a long-range three-pointer. Chapman, however would not let the lead come within single digits stretching the lead to 30 at one point, thanks to 65.5 percent field goal shooting (19 of 29) in the period.

Panthers' junior G Colin Zavrsnick poured in 10 of his 16 points in the second half, including a three-pointer. Chapman owned the glass, out-rebounding the Kingsmen 39-21 in the contest.

The fourth-seeded Kingsmen were led by G Arik Smith who scored 19 points.

With the victory Chapman advances to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in school history, and the third time since the Panthers joined Division III in 1994.

The Panthers will learn their first-round opponent on Monday, March 3 at 9:30 a.m. PST when the selection committee reveals the brackets on the NCAA Selection Show at NCAA.com.

by Mike Schwartz
Sports Information Intern

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140301_2o82.xml

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