ORANGE, Calif. – Junior Luke Hamlin led the Chapman University men's basketball team to a 76-67 victory over La Verne on Monday night at the Hutton Sports Center. Monday night's victory gave the Panthers sole possession of first place in SCIAC with a one and a half game lead over the Leopards heading into the last six games.

The Panthers rallied from an eight-point deficit twice to earn the win and avenge its early season road loss to La Verne with Hamlin posting a game-high 22 points.

Tied 8-8, junior Khaneal Mason hit a triple for La Verne to spark an 8-3 run for the Leopards to give La Verne a 16-11 lead. Mason then hit another pair from beyond the arc to lift La Verne's lead to 27-18 with just five minutes left.

Trailing 27-18, Hamlin hit a three to spark a 12-3 run for the Panthers. Hamlin scored nine of his 22 points in the last five minutes of the half to take a 31-29 heading into the second half.

The Leopards started off the second half strong breaking out in an 11-3 run in the first three minutes to take the lead 41-35. The Panthers then went on a 14-0 run following a steal by Hamlin to take the lead back 49-41 at the 15 minute mark.

Chapman held its lead through the last ten minutes of the game. Sophomore Rob Nelsen sparked a 9-3 run from beyond the arc at the 3:53 minute mark to pad the Panthers lead to a 72-59.  Nelsen scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half.

Senior Davis Dragovich was just shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

by Raquel Rinauro
Sports Information Assistant

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