Men's basketball holds off Whittier

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team took down Whittier 86-82 behind a 25-point night from Jack Roggin. The Panthers picked up their second win in a row and third in the last four games to move to 12-11 on the year and 6-9 in the SCIAC.

Roggin was just shy of a double-double with 25 points and eight rebounds to go along with three assists and a steal. Jake Heberle scored 15 points and Cruz Billings scored 14 in the winning effort. Daniel Foldes dished out six assists to go along with his 10 rebounds and two points. Blakeley Stoughton scored 11 points off the bench in his return from an injury, including a dunk that capped a 7-0 run to put the Panthers in front for good.

Both teams seemed to find their offensive groove early as the Poets shot 50 percent in the opening half and the Panthers shot 46.9. With both teams going back and forth early on, the Panthers started to pull away around the 11:00 minute mark in the first half. A three-point lead ballooned to double digits when Billings hit a three-pointer to make it 32-22 with 9:18 still to play in the first half.

The lead reached as high as 14 points when Heberle drained a three-pointer to make it 45-31 with just over two minutes left. A furious ending from the Poets closed the gap down to four points.

Just over four minutes into the second half, Whittier had retaken the lead at 56-55 and led 60-58 with 13:13 to play. Another Heberle three gave Chapman the lead again and sparked an 8-1 run that ended with Stoughton's dunk.

The lead again reached double digits with three minutes to play but Whittier was able to put together another late run and came all the way back with two points before Chapman put the game away at the free throw line.

The Panthers were 18-for-20 from the charity stripe. Roggin was a perfect 6-for-6, including converting two four-point plays when he was fouled as he drained a three-pointer. Chapman sunk 14 three-pointers in the victory to outpace Whittier's 12.

The Panthers wrap up the season on Tuesday when they host Caltech at 7 p.m.

 By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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