Men's hoops falls to CMS in SCIAC Tournament Finals

ORANGE, Calif. - The Chapman University men's basketball team fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 71-66 on Saturday night at the Hutton Sports Center in the SCIAC Tournament Final. The Stags will advance to the playoffs, while the Panthers fate rest in the hands of the NCAA.

After trading leads with Claremont eleven times in the first-half the Stags finally took the lead 21-19 at the 5:33 minute mark when Jack Earley hit a triple. The Stags then went on a 9-7 run to extend their lead 30-26 at the end of the half.

The Stags began the second half with a 14-4 run but the Panthers were revitalized when senior PG Colin Zavrsnick had a three-point shot with 10:57 remaining, bringing the score to 48-34. Back-to-back three-pointers from Zavrsnick and senior G Jordan Young tightened the score to 66-62 Stags with 0:49 left in the game.

In the last minute of the game, Chapman racked up 10 points but it was not enough to trump Claremont's high energy offense. Chapman offense was led by senior G Taylor Hamasaki who had a game-high of 29 points. Zavrsnick also recorded 19 points and five rebounds for the Panthers.

Claremont (20-6 overall, 12-4 SCIAC) was led by graduate student Tyler Gaffaney led the Stags with 17 points and eight rebounds. Gaffney leads the SCIAC in three offense categories including points per game (22.7), field goal percentage (56.4) and three-point percentage (49.0).

The Panthers' (22-4 overall, 12-4 SCIAC) playoff possibilities will be determined by the NCAA on Monday, March 2 at 9:30 a.m.

by Marissa Maynor & Raquel Rinauro
Sports Information Intern and Sports Information Assistant

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