Chapman Gives Mustangs That Sinking Feeling

The Chapman College Panthers, whose hopes of contending in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship this year were seemingly mired in quicksand, used a defense by the same name Thursday night to score a surprising 65-64 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo . . . and maybe right a season that appeared to be going nowhere a week ago.

Chapman had a 1-3 conference record entering the game and had some mighty long odds, too. San Luis Obispo (2-3, 13-5) hadn’t lost at home since last spring, its home winning streak reaching 11 games. And in Coach Ernie Wheeler’s Mustangs, the Panthers were facing a Division II team that had led the nation in defense during four of the last five years.

But Chapman (11-7 overall) beat San Luis Obispo in its own gym by beating it at its own game--with a swarming, 1-3-1 zone defense Panther Coach Kevin Wilson calls, rather descriptively, “Quicksand.”

The intent is to bog the opposing offense down with quickness, scrambling to trap the ballhandler, with a point guard perpetually in motion, chasing down the ball.

To get such quickness, Wilson trotted out 1984-85 Starting Lineup No. 10--with three guards (Mike Kelly, Roger Weninger and Pat O’Hern) joining center Karl Cato and forward Johnny Williams.

For a half, Quicksand had San Luis Obispo gasping for breath.

The Mustangs shot 33% in the initial 20 minutes, managing just 27 points in the process. Chapman wasn’t exactly pouring in baskets, either--hitting 39%--but made enough shots to take a 31-27 advantage into the second half.

That set the stage for an interesting final act, considering 1) Chapman’s history of mishandling second-half leads and 2) San Luis Obispo’s history at home.

Sure enough, the Mustangs came back. With Chico Rivera hitting 6 of 7 second-half shots and James Blevins adding 4-for-5 shooting before fouling out, San Luis Obispo had a 40-37 lead with 14:02 left and was tied, 54-54, with 3:32 remaining.

Chapman had seen these circumstances before. Only this time, the Panthers knew how to deal with them.

Wali Jones made a steal at midcourt and fired a pass to a streaking Jerry Ross, who rammed home a dunk and was fouled in the process. Ross converted the free throw to complete the three-point, giving Chapman a three-point lead.

For the final three minutes, the Panthers tried to play keepaway. They turned the ball over once, but mainly succeeded in hanging onto it and forcing the Mustangs into their Foul Anybody mode. Jones sank five late free throws and Kelly added two, giving Chapman a 65-62 lead before San Luis Obispo scored a concession basket at the buzzer.

Afterward, Wilson talked about the victory--which was a news story in itself. Upset by what he considered negative reporting by the local media, Wilson had refused to meet with the press after last Saturday’s home loss to UC Riverside.

The moratorium is apparently over, because post-game interviews returned to Chapman College Thursday.

“I think this shows that we are very, very competitive in this league,” Wilson said. “We are by no means a team that belongs at the bottom, and by no means are we No. 1. We’re somewhere in the middle, but we’re alive and kicking.

“The kids could’ve easily cracked. This is a tough place to win at but they scrapped and came back and did win.”

And the Panthers won despite an almost negligible output from their best shooter, Kelly. Averaging 14 points a game during conference, Kelly finished with four Thursday. He was 1 for 5 from the field, scoring his first points with 9:51 left in the game.

Chapman got by with 14 points from Cato (10 for 10 from the foul line), 11 from Jones . . . and a defense that gave San Luis Obispo a strange sinking feeling.

CHAPMAN (65)--Weninger 6, Williams 8, Cato 14, O’Hern 6, Kelly 4, Ross 9, Jones 11, Briggs 4, Brennan 3.

CAL POLY SLO (64)--Roberts 6, Masingale 1, Van Winden 8, Rivera 21, Wells 2, Blevins 12, Wintringer 4, Chellsen 10.

Halftime--Chapman 31-27.