COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Chapman-Doubletree Tournament : Taking Different Path to Success, Chapman Plays Defense, 60-38

The Chapman College men’s basketball team may have left its high-scoring offense in Hawaii, but it came up with something different Friday night, something it had failed to accomplish on the road.

The Panthers won their first game. After going 0-3 on the Hawaii trip, Chapman defeated Susquehana University, 60-38, in the opening round of the Chapman/Doubletree Tournament in Hutton Sports Center at Orange.

Chapman was averaging 83 points in its first three games, but it was giving up 89.

The Panthers outrebounded Susquehana, 45-30, and took advantage of the Crusaders’ shoddy ball handling to advance to tonight’s final against Sacramento State. Sacramento State defeated the University of Puget Sound, 83-65, Friday in the first game.

It will be a rematch of last year’s final, when the Hornets beat the Panthers, 58-40. But the rematch is really no surprise as Chapman was favored to beat Susquehana, a small Division III school from Pennsylvania.

Although the Crusaders finished 13-3 last year, they had just one starter--Bruce Merklinger--return.

Merklinger, who scored 19 points in the season opener, had 16 against Chapman. But he was Susquehana’s only weapon. Jay Thatcher had seven points and Kyle Wilson added five.

Kelly Huston and Karl Tompkins had 16 points each to lead the Panthers. Tompkins was 8 of 12 from the field. Senior Jon Samuelson added seven points. Samuelson, who hurt his left knee on the Hawaii trip and missed the final game, played with a heavily taped leg.

The Panthers didn’t take the floor until just before 9 p.m., well past the announced starting time of 8.

The problem was triggered when officials for the women’s tournament were sent schedules with the wrong times. Instead of a starting time of 2 p.m. for the Chapman-Eastern Washington women’s game, the schedules the referees received read 3 p.m.

By the time a full crew could be assembled, the game started about half an hour late. Things weren’t helped any when the Chapman women went to overtime before defeating Eastern Washington.

But the delays didn’t seem to bother Sacramento State’s game or its coach’s sense of humor.

“I was thinking this was going to be over by now,” said Sacramento State Coach Bill Brown said to Puget Sound Coach Don Zech during pregame warmups.

But Sacramento State had the last laugh, taking and completing the three-point shot at will. Cassius Kelleybrew, who was voted most valuable player in this tournament last year, led the Hornets with 21 points. He made 7 of 11 three-point attempts. Alex Williams also had success with the shot, converting three in the second half.

For Puget Sound, Jack Forney scored 21 points and David Valentine had 12.

“Our guys showed good offensive power and good shot selection,” Brown said. “The biggest difference between the first and second half was our rebounding advantage. Our guys took over the boards.”

Sacramento State finished with a slight edge in rebounding, 39-32, but the Hornets made 14 of 23 three-point shots to the Loggers’ 0 for 7.

The Chapman College women’s basketball team outscored Eastern Washington, 12-6, in overtime to win, 79-73, in the tournament’s opening round.

With the victory, the Panthers (2-2) advance to today’s championship game against Northern Arizona, which defeated Colorado, 63-61, in the first game.

Valarie Hartsfield led the Panthers with 25 points, and she and Tina Cavalin tied for a team-high eight rebounds. Karen Polk added 20 points and 6 assists for Chapman, which led at halftime, 38-22.