ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's basketball team heads into the holiday break with a 79-67 win over Lewis & Clark. The Panthers finished the 2024 portion of their schedule and head into the bulk of the SCIAC schedule with a 9-2 overall record.

After a disappointing result on Friday, the Panthers turned around their shooting woes to capture the win before the break. Jake Heberle led the Panthers with 22 points and seven rebounds as four of the five starters ended the game in double figures. Blakeley Stoughton finished with 15 points while Murphy Caffo contributed 13 and seven rebounds. Cruz Billings had 10 points to go along with his five assists and Adam Damian tallied five assists with six points.

Chapman never trailed after a Billings' three gave the Panthers a 12-11 lead just over four minutes into the game, Chapman flipped the switch offensively, pouring in 43 points in the first half on 56.5 percent shooting. The Panthers knocked down 5-of-10 shots beyond the arc in the opening half to build the halftime lead.

Lewis & Clark was led by 16 points off the bench from Andre Treadwell.

Chapman forced 15 turnovers from the Pioneers and turned those into 16 points. The second half lead grew to as much as 22 points with 5:39 to go but the Pios turned in a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to claw back into the game. Four clutch free throws from Heberle sandwiched a pair of dunks from Damian to keep the lead comfortably at 17 points as the game entered the final minute.

Chapman has an exhibition game with Cal Miramar scheduled for Dec. 30 before jumping back into SCIAC play in 2025. With a 2-0 record already in the SCIAC, the Panthers open back up with defending regular season champ Cal Lutheran on Jan. 4 at 4 p.m.