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Andrew Avalos (photo by Larry Newman)
Andrew Avalos (photo by Larry Newman)
Posted: Nov 15, 2011

Mix of old and new lead Chapman in season opener over La Verne

Box Score
Game Leaders
La Verne
Pts: Trevor Woodland - 19
Reb: TEAM - 5
Ast: 2 Players (#02, #05) - 2
Chapman
Pts: Ben Ricard - 21
Reb: Ben Ricard - 7
Ast: Garrett James - 4
Team Stats
Full stats

ORANGE, Calif. – A 12-2 run midway through the second half sparked the Chapman University men's basketball team to a 76-63 season-opening win over the University of La Verne on Tuesday night at the Hutton Sports Center. With the win, Chapman has now won five-straight home-openers and 17 in a row at home overall dating back to Dec. 5, 2009.

With the score tied 38-38 after a three-pointer by La Verne senior G Trevor Woodland at the 14:52 mark of the second half, Chapman went on the decisive 12-2 run and would lead the rest of the night. The run was sparked by a trio of three-pointers – two from freshman G Jordan Young and the other from  senior PG Andrew Avalos – to give Chapman a 50-40 lead at the 10:07 mark after Avalos' three-pointer. Sophomore G Garrett James also made a big impact during that stretch with a basket and two of his four assists.

Avalos and Young each finished the game with 11 points. Woodland had a team-high 19 points for the Leopards on 7-of-12 shooting and three, three-pointers.

Chapman (1-0) connected on 75 percent of its field goals (15-20) in the second half and 60.9 percent for the game. The Panthers built their lead to as many as 15 in the second half.

While Chapman controlled the second half, La Verne (0-1) kept it close in the first half, leading most of the way. The Leopards led by as many as five points on several occasions in the first half. The last time came after a pair of free throws by junior PG Jake Vieth that pushed their lead to 25-20 with 6:12 remaining in the first half. Vieth had 13 points for La Verne while senior F Austin Napolitano finished with 15.

Chapman then closed out the first half with a 13-1 run over the final 6:12, the last two baskets coming from senior C Ben Ricard which gave the team a 33-26 lead. Ricard had a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers while senior G Brandon Lin had 14 points.

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by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant