First-place Claremont defeats Chapman in last-second thriller

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team gave first-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges all it could handle on Wednesday night, but eventually fell to the visiting Stags 66-65 in a SCIAC matchup at the Hutton Sports Center. Claremont remains unbeaten in conference play, while the Panthers fell into fourth place with the loss.

Claremont (13-4 overall, 8-0 SCIAC) got out to a double-digit lead early on and carried a 30-19 advantage into halftime. However, Chapman (11-8 overall, 5-5 SCIAC) battled back in the second half to close the deficit to three points with just under two minutes to go led by junior guards Taylor Hamasaki and Colin Zavrsnick.

With 59 seconds remaining and following a Claremont turnover, Hamasaki drained a three-point basket to tie the game at 63-63. On the very next possession, Stags' G Jack Grodahl made one of his four three-pointers of the game to put Claremont back on top 66-63 with 35 ticks left.

Chapman's Zavrsnick answered with a layup 11 seconds later, bringing the Panthers to within one. Missed free throws down the stretch by the Stags gave Chapman one more chance to score, down by one with 16 seconds to go. However, Hamasaki had the ball stripped by Claremont's Tyler Gaffaney, ultimately sealing the Panthers' fate. It's Chapman's third loss by five points or less this month, including two in overtime.

Grodahl and sophomore C Nick Lund led the way for Claremont, scoring 14 points each. For Chapman, Zavrsnick scored a team-high 20 points. Hamasaki added 19 and fellow junior PG Garrett James scored 16, making all five of his free throws in the second half. Senior F Nick Dragovich led all players with 12 rebounds for Chapman.

Chapman takes to the court again on Saturday at home against Redlands at 5 p.m. in another SCIAC matchup.

by Mitchell Eby & Doug Aiken
Sports Information Intern & Sports Information Director

Box score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140129_r8im.xml

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