Men's basketball pulls away late to win defensive battle

ORANGE, Calif. – Senior Jack Roggin scored 19 points off the bench as the Chapman University men's basketball team captured a 59-52 win over visiting SUNY Oneonta on Sunday. The Panthers ran their overall record to 9-1 to start the season.

Coming out of their week-long break for finals, the Panthers overcame slow starts in both halves to come away with the seven-point victory. Roggin led all players with 19 points and senior Chandler White scored 11 off the bench. The Red Dragons were led by Caleb Brown, who scored 16 points off the bench and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Chapman went down 7-0 in the first four minutes before senior Hayden Moore knocked down a three-pointer to put Chapman on the board. Roggin then came off the bench and dropped in a layup before hitting two free throws less than a minute later to tie the game at 7-7. The Panthers continued on a 13-2 run to take a four-point lead and did not trail the rest of the half.

It was a defensive battle throughout the game as both teams struggled from the floor. Chapman shot just 31.6 percent on the night but overcame their struggles with a strong night at the line. The Panthers were 17-of-21 at the charity stripe with Roggin and Nathan Williams each hitting all five of their free throw attempts.

The Panthers led by as many as six points in the first half but took a 25-22 into halftime after the Red Dragons closed out the last minute and a half on a quick 4-1 run.

Oneonta seized the momentum to begin the second half, holding the Panthers coreless over the first four minutes again and scoring the first 10 points of the half. With less than 16 minutes to go, Chapman was again staring down a seven-point deficit.

It took less than 40 seconds to cut that lead down to one as Anthony Smith Moore hit three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor. Near the midway point of the half, White hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 39-39 and Roggin followed with a three of his own after the Panthers drew an offensive foul.

Brown put the Red Dragons back on top for a moment but Jacob Mata knocked down a pair of free throws to put Chapman on top again at 44-43. Both teams buckled down defensively as neither scored over the next two-plus minutes. Oneonta went back up with a pair of free throws but Roggin followed with a fall away jumper to tilt the seesaw again with less than four minutes to play.

Another layup from Brown put Oneonta back up and White tied the game at 47-47 with a free throw. With 3:06 left, Williams put back a White miss while absorbing a foul and completed the three-point play that put Chapman up three points. The Panthers never trailed again. Williams was 4-of-4 from the line down the stretch to help seal the game.

The Panthers return on Dec. 28 to take on Bethesda at 7 p.m. in their final game of the calendar year and their final non-conference game.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director