ORANGE, Calif. – A huge first-half offensive explosion by the Chapman University men's basketball team, along with a long cold spell by visiting University of La Verne led to an 81-40 win by the Panthers at the Hutton Sports Center on Saturday night.

No. 22-ranked Chapman (20-4 overall, 11-4 SCIAC) continues to cling to its conference title hopes with third-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps taking on first-place Cal Lutheran University later on Saturday night.

Trailing 12-8 with 15:09 remaining in the first half, the Panthers went on an offensive surge that included 26 consecutive points and finished with a 39-2 run for nearly the remainder of the half. La Verne (9-15 overall, 5-10 SCIAC) was limited to just five free throws over the final 15 minutes of the half and didn't score another field goal until the 17:52 mark of the second half – over 17 minutes without a bucket.

Chapman led 51-17 at the intermission and cruised to a 41-point win, leading by as many as 49 points in the second half. The Panthers shot 70.8 percent (17 of 24) from the floor in the first half and finished at 56 percent for the game.

Senior G Taylor Hamasaki led all scorers with 25 points and five rebounds for Chapman, including making 9 of 10 field goals in the game. Senior G Colin Zavrsnick added 21 points, including four three-pointers and a pair of steals. Junior G Davis Dragovich pitched in 10 points and three blocked shots off the bench for the Panthers.

Chapman will conclude the regular season on Tuesday when it hosts Caltech on 'Senior Night' at the Hutton Center at 7:30 p.m. With a win (or a Claremont loss on Saturday or Tuesday), the Panthers would clinch home court advantage in the first round of the SCIAC Tournament which begins on Friday, Feb. 27.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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