Chapman Wins Despite Shot Choice

If you want to be nice about it, one might call Chris Perine’s decision to put up an 18-footer from the right corner with eight seconds remaining and his team--Chapman College--leading by two points, a simple lapse in judgment.

Though Perine made the shot, it could have cost Chapman a victory over Cal State Bakersfield Saturday night. The Roadrunners came down the floor and made a three-point shot to pull within one.

Then, they called back-to-back timeouts with one second remaining. Disaster for Chapman was averted, however, when Jon Samuelson successfully inbounded the ball to Alan Erickson.

The ashen look on Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson’s face disappeared, and the Panthers had a 94-93 victory over the Roadrunners before 600 in Hutton Sports Center in Orange.

“My knees went like jelly,” Wilson said. “Chris told me he thought the scorekeeper made a mistake and it was tied. I told him, ‘Yeah, 9,000 people in the gym, or it sounded like 9,000, were wrong and you were the only one who was right.’ ”

No matter. The Panthers (9-7, 2-1) won their second straight California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game.

Karl Tompkins had a team-high 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Panthers.

Bakersfield Coach Jim Parks could only shake his head.

“We played really well,” he said. “This was our best conference game . . . but we definitely didn’t get a break. You need a break when you’re on the road.”