Career-best from Zavrsnick can't save Chapman from OT loss

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to visiting Occidental College on Saturday night, losing in overtime 99-94 in a SCIAC matchup at the Hutton Sports Center. After the Panthers rallied in the second half to tie the game and force overtime, Oxy took charge in the extra period to win by five and snap its own four-game conference losing streak.

Even a career-best 31 points from junior G Colin Zavrsnick could not save the Panthers from dropping their fourth in their past five games and falling into a tie for sixth place in the SCIAC standings.

Chapman (9-7 overall, 3-4 SCIAC) let a big first-half lead slip away and found itself playing from behind for much of the second half. A pair of free throws by Zavrsnick knotted the game at 85 with 12 seconds remaining, sending the Panthers into their second overtime game in a week.

Occidental (7-8 overall, 3-4 SCIAC) led the entire overtime frame, but only by two with 40 seconds left when F Kris Montoya nailed his third three-pointer of the game to put the Tigers up by five. Oxy's Andrew Johnson followed with a basket to give the visitors a 98-91 lead with 20 seconds to play and seal the victory. Montoya finished with a team-high 24 points, while teammate Juwan Rice earned a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Panthers built a double-digit lead early in the game, jumping out to an 18-4 lead in the first five minutes of play and led by as many as 15  with 7:32 remaining in the first half. But Occidental closed the gap quickly, going on a 19-4 run over the next four minutes and ended the period on a 27-8 run to lead by four at halftime.

Zavrsnick got his 31 points on 9 of 16 shooting, including 5 of 6 from three-point range, to lead all scorers. Chapman junior G Taylor Hamasaki added 22 points and senior F Nick Dragovich earned his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Chapman will hit the road for its next two contests before returning home to face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140118_hnye.xml

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