ORANGE, Calif. - Last season, the Chapman University men's basketball team finished with a 24-3 record, its highest win total in nearly 50 years. How did they do it? Defense, an inside-oriented, half-court offense, and some more defense.

"I believe in defense, I love defense. The thing that I love the most in life is my family, the second thing that I love is defense," said head coach Mike Bokosky.

That defensive-minded mentality has transferred over from coach to players and it showed in 2008. In fact, last season Chapman's defense allowed opponents to score just 56.4 points per game which led the nation in that category. With 10 players returning for Chapman this season, including all five starters, expect to see a similar style of play when the Panthers open the regular season on the road against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Bokosky, the 2009 Association of Division III Independents Coach of the Year, credits the success of the Panthers' defense directly to their methodical offensive style of play which puts a priority on running the offense through its post players.

"We led America last year in points allowed per game, not because we are a great defensive team, but because our offense is slow and deliberate," said Bokosky. "All good defensive teams have good, slow, methodic, fundamental offenses."

Providing inside depth are four returners led by first-team All-Independents selection Justin Riley (11.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 28 blks) and All-Independents selection Jared Kaiser (9.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) a junior and senior, respectively. Also seeing significant playing time on the front line will be junior F/C Jon Consani who is the Panthers' tallest player at 6'7" and sophomore F Ben Ricard.

"Our attack is inside because we have really good inside players," said Bokosky. "We have more inside players at one time than we've had any time since I have been here."

Because Chapman has developed the reputation over the past two seasons as a team with an inside-first mentality on offense, Coach Bokosky expects to see opponents double-team the Panthers' post players in 2009. He believes that this should create opportunities for the perimeter players to knock down some open shots and make some plays offensively. Last year the Panthers shot 40.7 percent from three-point range.

"Our posts will be double teamed a lot so they will have to make good decisions and our perimeter guys have to be able to make set shots and drive the ball," said Bokosky who is in search of his fifth-straight 20-win season as the Panthers' coach.

On the perimeter, senior Dan Aguilar (6.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, team-high 59 assists), and juniors Kyle Wood (12.8 ppg, 50 3-pt FGs, 55 assists) and All-Independents selection Griffin Ramme (11.3 ppg, 37 3-pt FGs) join Riley and Kaiser in the starting lineup. As the primary outside-shooting threats, Ramme and Wood will be counted on to build on their 2008 campaign, especially with the loss of senior Sean Vreeburg (45 3-pt FGs) who served as a consistent three-point shooter last season.

Also expected to make a significant contribution this season on the perimeter - in large part because of his defensive ability according to Bokosky - is sophomore PG Brandon Lin who played in all 27 games as a freshman seeing just over 10 minutes per game. Freshman Dylan Roley (Laguna Beach H.S.) and junior transfer Matt Kohorst (San Bernardino J.C.) will see minutes off the bench as well.

Once again in 2009, one of the biggest obstacles facing the Panthers quest for its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1984 is a schedule that is front-loaded with crucial, early season games against West Region opponents. The first 12 games include eight contests against SCIAC opponents (four home, four away), three games at the Lee Fulmer Tournament in Redlands and a game against Elmhurst College (Ill.).

With 10 experienced returners and two key new players, the offensive and defensive pieces are in place for another successful season and possibly an elusive NCAA Tournament appearance.