Men’s basketball heading to CMS for SCIAC semifinal

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team ended the regular season with a No. 4 spot in the SCIAC rankings. The Panthers (17-8, 10-6 SCIAC) head to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (16-7, 14-1 SCIAC) to take on the No. 1 seed Stags.

• This is Chapman's fourth trip to the postseason since joining the conference in 2012. The Panthers have made it to the championship game in every appearance and have been crowned SCIAC Tournament Champions twice. 
• Chapman is led by senior Rob Nelsen, who is averaging a career-high 15.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The captain dropped a career-high 28 points against the Stags in their last meeting this past Saturday. Fellow senior Luke Selway is also posting career numbers with 9.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
• A few Panthers find themselves on the SCIAC leaderboards. Junior Josh Mendoza is shooting 48.4 percent from beyond the arc, ranking second in the conference. Selway and freshman Reed Smith are among the leaders of field goal percentage shooters, with Selway ranking second shooting 55.9 percent and Smith ranking fourth shooting 55.0 percent.
• CMS senior Kendrick Morris leads the SCIAC in field goal percentage, shooting 61.5 percent. He also ranks second in the conference with 8.0 rebounds per game. Senior Michael Scarlett leads the Stags and the SCIAC with a career-high 18.9 points per game.
• The two sides have met twice this season, with CMS coming away with a victory in both games. Historically, the Stags and Panthers are evenly matched up. Chapman is 18-19 all-time against CMS and has lost the last four consecutive games to the side.
• During their last matchup, the Panthers out-rebounded the Stags 31-27 but could not keep up with CMS's 50.0 percent field goal and 100.0 percent free throw shooting.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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