Chapman Tournament : Chapman Wins in Overtime : Perine Hits Free Throws to Give Panthers Title

You would have thought someone such as Jon Samuelson, Karl Tompkins or Kelly Huston might have been the key figure in one of Chapman College’s closest victories of the last two seasons.

Instead it was Chris Perine, a junior college transfer who first set foot on campus this fall, who clinched Chapman’s come-from-behind victory against Sacramento State.

Perine’s two free throws, with nine seconds remaining in overtime, gave the Panthers a 74-73 victory in the championship game of the Chapman/Doubletree Tournament Saturday night in Hutton Sports Center at Orange.

Perine, who led the Panthers with 19 points, had a chance to win the game in regulation. With eight seconds left, his free-throw attempt bounced off the rim. Then, Sacramento State’s Alex Williams missed a shot from the left corner at the buzzer.

At the end of regulation, it was 66-66.

In overtime, the Hornets had taken a 73-70 lead before David Roth’s basket cut the deficit to 73-72 with 40 seconds remaining.

With 24 seconds left, Sacramento State’s Bruce Woodard missed a free throw, Tompkins got the rebound and fed it to Perine. Perine drove inside and missed the shot but was fouled by Derrick Hopkins.

That set up the winning free throws.

“We do a pressure free-throw shooting drill a lot in practice,” said Perine, who played junior college basketball at Santa Rosa. “What was I thinking before the free throws? . . . I just took a couple of deep breaths, followed my routine and put the ball through.”

After the free throws, the Hornets got the ball past midcourt and called timeout with five seconds remaining. Then, in the ensuing scramble, a Williams attempt missed and so did one by Robert Martin.

“We thought we had them,” Perine said. “We just had to run our offense and be patient.”

Actually, the Panthers (2-3) couldn’t afford to be too patient in the waning moments. They were behind by eight with 5:09 left and four with 2:24 remaining. At one point in the second half, Sacramento State (2-3) had a 13-point lead.

For Chapman, Tompkins had 16 points, Alan Erickson and Huston had 9 apiece, and Samuelson added 8. Tompkins was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and Perine was selected to the All-Tournament team.

Williams, who was also named to the team, led Sacramento State with 22 points. Martin had 17 and Hopkins scored 13.

From the start, it looked like a completely different game from last year’s tournament final. Sacramento State had defeated Chapman, 58-40, after taking a nine-point halftime lead.

But the Panthers stayed with the Hornets throughout the first half. Williams hit a follow shot with two seconds left to put Sacramento State ahead, 28-22, at halftime.

Sacramento State, which relied heavily on the three-point shot in the tournament opener Friday night, didn’t have the same success Saturday night. The Hornets scoring leaders against Puget Sound, Williams and Cassius Kelleybrew, virtually disappeared in the first half.

Although Williams eventually made 5 of 13 three-point attempts, Kelleybrew went 0 for 4.

In the third-place game, Puget Sound defeated Susquehanna University, 79-55. The Loggers led by 15 at halftime and cruised the rest of the way.

Jack Forney led the Loggers with 19 points. Bob Ostlund and Kevin Fagerstrom added 11.

Bruce Merklinger and Jim Dimond had 16 apiece for Susquehanna.

Merklinger and Forney were also named to the All-Tournament team.