Chapman Keeps On Winning : Panthers Take Third Straight as Pt. Loma Can’t Keep Up, 83-59

Kevin Wilson came away shaking his head after watching UC Irvine run past Bradley Monday night.

And it wasn’t from neck strain--although swiveling your head from side to side while watching Irvine’s fast break might cause that. Wilson, who coaches the Chapman College men’s basketball team, was amazed by the pace.

“This was a snail’s pace compared to that,” he said after the Panthers beat Point Loma Nazarene College, 83-59, Tuesday night in front of 200 in Hutton Sports Center at Orange.

It was more of an uptempo game--from start to finish--compared to Chapman’s other two home games. With the increased pace came 13 turnovers. But Wilson wasn’t complaining.

He knows you don’t pack the stands with slow, deliberate play. People always remember the theatrics.

“They want to see the points,” Wilson said. “They want to see the three-point shot.”

And Wilson knows a good show from experience. After all, he was a first-hand observer when Bill Musselman put some dazzle into the University of Minnesota basketball program. Wilson was an assistant with the Gophers from 1971-76.

Although Wilson admits his Panthers are not a great fast-break team, they moved down the floor much faster than Point Loma. Even Karl Tompkins, who’s 6-feet 6-inches, was getting into the act, frequently beating his defender.

It paid off. Tompkins, who was Most Valuable Player in last weekend’s Chapman/Doubletree Tournament, scored a career-high 28 points against the Crusaders. He also had 10 rebounds.

“By the half, I had 20 points,” said Tompkins, whose previous career high of 22, came last season against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “It was one of those days where everything was falling in.”

Jon Samuelson added 14 points, and David Roth, a freshman from Orange High School, made his strongest showing of the season. Roth played 17 minutes and scored 13 points, going six of eight from the field and one of two from the line.

This was the first time Chapman (3-3) has had three straight victories since last January. Point Loma had won its first four games.

And, it was the second straight game in which the Panthers avenged a defeat from last season. Sacramento State, which Chapman beat last weekend, had defeated the Panthers by 18 points. Point Loma beat Chapman, 81-72, last season.

The Panthers were unable to pull away from the Crusaders until the latter part of the first half. Chapman made its move with about 1:39 remaining in the half, scoring the final three times down the floor. That expanded the lead from six points to 10 at the half.

“It was hard to come back after winning the tournament,” Tompkins said. “We came out flat.”

There weren’t any signs of that in the second half. Chapman outscored Pt. Loma, 42-28.

Senior forward Steve Bruce led Pt. Loma with 22 points. Clayton Williams and Greg Lanthier each scored 13.