ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team dropped its first game of the season on Saturday with a 77-71 loss to visiting Willamette. The tightly contested game featured 11 ties and seven lead changes before the Bearcats pulled away for the win.

Murphy Caffo led the Panthers with a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds in a physical game that saw a lot of action in the paint. Jake Heberle scored 15 points and Blakeley Stoughton added 12.

As both teams struggled to connect on shots from long range, both began to attack the rim. Both teams scored 48 points in the paint but combined to hit just 6-of-35 three-point attempts. The Panthers started the game 0-for-10 before Heberle was able to know down a couple of long range shots. He ended the game 2-for-9 beyond the arc but the rest of the Panthers were 0-for-11.

The teams fought to a 29-29 halftime tie. Chapman opened the second half with a 11-4 run to open up a seven point lead and led until the seven-minute mark when a pair of free throws tied the game at 52-52 for Willamette.

The Bearcats took the lead during a 15-4 run that spanned from the eight-minute mark down to four and a half minutes left in the game. They were able to hold off the Panthers over the last four minutes, hitting 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch despite struggling from the line for much of the game.

The Panthers will look to get back on the winning track after the Thanksgiving break with a pair of SCIAC games on the horizon. Chapman heads to La Verne on Dec. 4 and hosts Caltech on Dec. 7 at 4 p.m.