Chapman Blows Past Rhode Island

When UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard was complaining about the Bruins’ difficult nonconference schedule last month, one of the schools he said he wanted to play to remedy the problem was Rhode Island College.

Rhode Island, a Division 3 institution, is not exactly a college basketball juggernaut. The Anchormen’s front line averages 6-foot 3-inches.

It’s the kind of school that Hazzard, while coach at Chapman, figured would be a patsy even for the Division 2 Panthers. And Wednesday night in the Hutton Sports Center, a gathering of 232 discovered how right he was.

Despite obvious disadvantages in size, talent, depth, stamina--a few little things such as that--Rhode Island managed to give Chapman a game in the early going before eventually falling, 81-58.

Everyone who was healthy (Wali Jones has a throat infection) got a chance to play for Chapman (9-6) as the Panthers turned a 53-40 halftime advantage into a rout midway through the second half. The only unhappy people in Chapman uniforms were Jerry Ross, Mike Kelly and Mike Brennan, who had their wallets stolen from their lockers in the first half.

The Panthers dominated the rebounding, 41-25, and they had out-rebounded the Anchormen, 20-8, by halftime.

“We got one shot and that was it,” said Rhode Island Coach Jim Adams, still smiling despite an 0-3 trip through the Southland that dropped his team’s record to 5-6.

“We shot well enough (57%) in the first half to be fortunate enough to give them some competition. But they have so much quickness and size. And we may be the worst defensive team in the country.

“We just ran out of gas in the second half, and they started exploiting our defensive deficiencies.”

Rhode Island slowed things down in the opening minutes of the second half, and Chapman went more than five minutes without scoring. But the Panthers steadily pulled away after that, and the game deteriorated into a playground-like affair.

The only thing missing was the blacktop.

“Maybe when I’m in my second year . . . or my ninth year, I’ll get our players to pass the ball around a few times,” Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson said. “I can’t seem to convince them that the more you pass the ball, the better your chances for a good shot.

“I’m tired of our three-pass offense.”

Wilson would not no comment about Hazzard’s scheduling tendencies, but he did admit that “it’s pretty hard to get up for this kind of game in the middle of conference play.”

Andy Marusich and Karl Cato led the Panthers with 14 points each. Marusich made 6 of 7 from the floor, but Cato, who redeemed himself with a 10-for-10 performance at the free throw line, hit just 2 of 9 field goal attempts.

Paul Hart, who got all his points in the first half, topped the Anchormen with 12. He missed his first five jumpers in the second half and played just four minutes after halftime.

“Eventually our transition game became a big factor,” Wilson said.

But it was obvious by his tone of voice that he didn’t consider the win any big deal.