Men's basketball drops back and forth battle with San Diego Christian

ORANGE, Calif. –There were eight lead changes and eight ties in a back and forth battle but the Chapman University men's basketball team fell 73-62 to San Diego Christian. Junior James Taylor led the Panthers (1-1) with his first double-double of the season.

Taylor scored 12 of his points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes to finish the game with 22 points and 12 boards. He also dished out three assists. Junior Rob Nelsen and junior Tyler Green each added 11 points.

The Panthers and Hawks (2-2) traded baskets early on but an 8-0 Hawks run turned a two-point Panther lead into a six-point deficit with 14:10 to go in the first half. Chapman fought back within one after Green drained one of three first-half threes and sophomore Cam Haslam knocked down a jumper.

Green's third three in a three and a half minute span put the Panthers back out in front momentarily. The Hawks retook the lead and carried a 37-36 lead into halftime.

The Panthers jumped out in front early in the half but San Diego Christian took the lead for good on Caleb Singleton's three-pointer with 12:27 to go. Despite falling behind by eight points at 54-46, Taylor and Haslam fueled a 7-0 Chapman run that brought the lead down to one at 54-53 with five minutes to go.

A couple of big threes from Singleton and Luis Salgado kept the Hawks out in front as the Panthers continued to push and San Diego Christian was able to pull away in the final minutes of the game with some key free throws and defensive stops.

Singleton led the Hawks with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-6 shooting beyond the arc. Chapman shot 38.5 percent as a team while the Hawks drained 48.1 percent of their shots.

Chapman hits the road for its next three games, including a trip to the Northwest next week that features matchups at George Fox on Wednesday and Lewis & Clark on Saturday. Chapman returns home Dec. 6 to take on LIFE Pacific at 7 p.m.

by Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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