Big first half paces Chapman men to 21st straight regular season win

ORANGE, Calif.– Carrying momentum over from a big come-from-behind win against La Verne on Tuesday night, the Chapman University men's basketball team extended its unbeaten season record with an 83-63 win over visiting University of Redlands on Saturday afternoon at the Hutton Sports Center.

No. 18-ranked Chapman (16-0 overall, 7-0 SCIAC) ran its school-record 21-game regular season winning streak and remains atop the SCIAC standings with one game remaining in the first half of the conference schedule.

This time it was the Panthers' first half that carried them to the 20-point win, outscoring the Bulldogs 47-26 before the half. Senior G Colin Zavrsnick scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in the period, including all four of his three-pointers.

Chapman's 13-2 run midway through the first half turned a 20-17 lead into a 14-point advantage with 6:17 to go, capped by Zavrsnick three. The Panthers pushed the advantage to 21 on another triple by Zavrsnick to beat the buzzer before the intermission.

Senior F Justin Young added 12 points and eight rebounds for Chapman and senior PG Garrett James – the SCIAC leader and top-10 nationally in assists – pitched in seven helpers. The Panthers, one of the top shooting teams in Division III, shot 50 percent (31-for-62) from the field.

For Redlands (5-10 overall, 2-4 SCIAC), Sean Milligan scored 15 points and Aljosa Bjekovic added 11 points.

In order to keep its unbeaten streak alive, Chapman will have to navigate a tough road stretch against three SCIAC playoff teams from a year ago, beginning with Cal Lutheran on Thursday night. The Panthers will then travel to Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday and rematch with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Claremont on Feb. 3.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChapmanSports
#Chaptown