Chapman Hurting Before and After Loss

Team philosophy is great in theory, but when your second-leading scorer and rebounder is sitting behind the bench in street clothes, it is time to start thinking about the next game.

For the Chapman College Panthers, that concept is a better alternative than thinking about the events of Tuesday night.

The initial damage came Monday when forward Kelly Huston suffered a dislocated right kneecap during practice. Cal State Dominguez Hills was more than happy to supply the next blow, defeating Chapman, 80-59, in Hutton Sports Center at Orange in front of 600.

Call it cause and effect basketball.

The Toros stopped Chapman’s three-game winning streak and continued another. Dominguez Hills has defeated the Panthers six straight times, and with this victory, it moved into a second-place tie with Chapman at 5-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

“We’ve played Dominguez now four times and we’ve never been healthy,” Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson said. “Last year, in our conference opener, Jon (Samuelson) had a pulled groin muscle. And in the second meeting, we were missing two guys. Then Sam comes down with flu this year. . . . “

Next on the list was Huston. The injury to his knee didn’t happen on one specific play during Monday’s practice, but Huston said a dislocation last summer may have made it easier to occur again.

“I can’t really tell you when it happened,” said Huston, who was averaging 13.7 points and 6.8 rebounds. “I can’t really pinpoint it. I was fine one moment, and then the next minute I felt a twinge.”

Huston may not play in the Panthers’ two games this weekend.

Without his 6-foot 6-inch presence inside, the Toros were able to let William Alexander loose. Alexander, who became the CCAA’s all-time leading scorer last weekend, scored 30 points. He also held Samuleson to 12.

“So, when your top player is playing that kind of defense, it carries over to the others,” said Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai.

In other instances, when Samuelson was off his game, others have stepped in to pick up the slack. This time, there was no one. Karl Tompkins scored 11, Dave Roth had 9 and Chris Perine had 7.

The lack of point production was not surprising, especially considering the statistics. The Panthers shot just 39% from the field, including 2 of 15 from three-point range.

Dominguez Hills shot 63% in the second half, finishing with 59% from the field. In addition to Alexander, the Toros had two other players in double figures. Tony Akins scored 20 and John Nojima added 12.

Wilson, though, was looking for a positive aspect after it was over.

“We had a game like this against Cal State Northridge,” he said. “And then we came back with three straight wins, including one over Riverside.”