Carefree Panthers cruise past West Coast Baptist

ORANGE, Calif. – Free of the anxiety that came with final exams this week, the Chapman University men's basketball team looked carefree on Friday night as the Panthers disposed of visiting West Coast Baptist College 90-65 at the Hutton Center in a non-conference matchup. Chapman scored a season-high 90 points to improve to 3-2 on its home floor this season.

Chapman (4-3) quickly took control of the game after falling behind 7-2 in the first two minutes of play. The Panthers went on a 22-2 run over the next seven-plus minutes led by junior G Colin Zavrsnick who sank a couple of threes on his way to 17 points in the half. The junior finished with a game-high 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including three three-pointers.

The Panthers were far from done, stringing together another 11-2 run late in the half to take their biggest lead of the period at 47-21 on another three by Zavrsnick with 2:32 to play before halftime.

The intermission didn't cool the Panthers down as they opened the second half on a 16-2 run and took a 38-point lead with 14:25 remaining, their largest lead of the game. Playing a more fast-paced run-and-gun style than the norm, Chapman took a season-high 64 field goal attempts and made 57.8 percent of its shots, also a season-best.

Junior G Jordan Young was one of four Panthers to score in double figures with 12 points off the bench, all coming via three-pointers. He had four of Chapman's eight baskets from beyond the arc. Junior C John Joyce (12 points) and senior F Nick Dragovich (11) also scored in double-digits. Junior G Taylor Hamasaki added eight points and five assists for Chapman.

For West Coast Baptist (1-9), G Ryan Molencupp led the way with 15 points, including three three-pointers.

Chapman returns to SCIAC play on Monday night when it hosts Whittier College at 7:30 p.m. It will be the third of seven straight home games over the holiday break for the Panthers.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20131213_a7e4.xml

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