No. 12 Chapman's NCAA Tournament run ends with loss at No. 4 Whitworth

SPOKANE, Wash. - With a six point second half lead, the No. 4 Whitworth University men's basketball team went on a 15-5 run to put the game out of reach, defeating No. 12 Chapman University 77-56 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday night at Whitworth Fieldhouse. Whitworth never trailed, however the game remained close until the five minute mark of the second half.

After junior F Justin Riley narrowed the score to 45-39 with a jumper at the 10 minute mark of the second half, Whitworth's David Riley and Wade Gebbers hit back-to-back three pointers pushing their lead to 12. The nation's No.3-ranked three-point shooting team had been silenced by Chapman's defense up until that point but hit several crucial shots down the stretch. Whitworth finished just 5-of-20 from the three-point line for the game. Justin Riley, the Panthers leading scorer, had 12 points on the night.

Chapman (24-3) got the deficit back to single-digits at 51-42 on a three-pointer by senior G Kyle Wood with 9:02 remaining but could not get any closer as Whitworth built its lead up to as many as 21 points in the second half. Wood finished with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists in his final game at Chapman.

Similar to the final 10 minutes, Whitworth (25-2) controlled the first several minutes of the game as they jumped out to a 21-6 lead with 10:09 remaining in the first half. A bucket by Wood ended the Pirates' 13-0 run and started a 14-2 run for Chapman as they narrowed the score to 23-19. Whitworth led 32-26 at halftime.

The Panthers had a difficult time stopping Whitworth's senior F Nate Montgomery, the 2009-10 Northwest Conference Player of the Year who had a big first half with 10 of his game-high 23 points to go along with 14 rebounds. Senior PG Eric Beal, a transfer from Concordia (Calif.) University also had a strong game with 21 points and four assists. David Riley was the other Pirate to finish in double figures adding 14 points.

Senior F Jared Kaiser had seven points and eight rebounds in his final game for Chapman. For the second-consecutive season, Chapman ends with a 24-3 record. Whitworth University advances to the NCAA Division III Championship round of 16 to face Eastern Mennonite University next weekend.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant

boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/cu-wu.htm