Doubletree Tournament : Huston’s 28 Points Pace Chapman

Kelly Huston scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half as Chapman College beat Southern Utah State, 102-87, in the first round of the Doubletree tournament Friday night at Chapman.

The Panthers (1-1) will play the University of Charleston in tonight’s 8:05 championship game.

Huston, a 6-7, 200-pound center, was a major factor in the first three minutes as Chapman opened up a 17-4 lead. Using his inside strength, Huston scored six of his points during that span.

Huston wound up making 7 of his 10 shots in the first half as Chapman made 21 of its 36 shots. Southern Utah State (1-2) made only 12 of its 33 shots.

Huston’s 28 points equalled a career-high, first established last Nov. 24 against Hawaii Pacific.

“This was the best half I’ve had in my four years here,” said Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson. “I liked our intensity out there and I liked the way we played defense. Kelly (who also had 6 of his 10 rebounds in the first half) rebounded with real aggressiveness and in a real ferocious manner.”

Chapman also got a strong effort from 6-5 forward Mike Minier, who hit 7 of 11 shots as he scored 20 points.

Southern Utah State (1-2), which trailed by as many as 29 points in the second half, was led by 6-5 forward Ted Thomas. He made 6 of his 9 shots in the second half, scoring 28 points.

Mike Thomas added 21 points for Southern Utah and Jerry Naulls added 18. Naulls also had 7 assists.

“What also impressed me about this game was the way several guys came through for us,” Wilson said. “We had a lot of people come through for points for us, and we also got some strong efforts from our bench.”

One of Wilson’s reserves, 6-6 forward Matt Honikel, scored a career-high 8 points in 13 minutes.

In the other first-round game:

University of Charleston 87, CS Stanislaus 83--Antonio Martin scored 25 points and Mike Nembhard added 15 as Charleston held off a late Stanislaus rally to advance to tonight’s final.

Stanislaus (0-3), which trailed, 57-45, midway in the second half, outscored Charleston (3-0), 9-2, in a three-minute span to narrow the deficit to 86-83 with 14 seconds left. But Martin made the front half of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity to seal the win.

Stanislaus State was led by Kevin Alexander, who scored 19 points. He also had 11 rebounds.

In the women’s tournament at Chapman:

UC Santa Barbara 76, Chapman 63--Mia Thompson scored 18 points while Rebecca Rehder added 11 points and 19 rebounds as UC Santa Barbara advanced to today’s 5:45 championship game.

UCSB, which outrebounded Chapman, 35-22, in the first half, used its inside advantage to pull to a 37-23 halftime lead. The Gauchos were never seriously threatened at any time thereafter.

Chapman (2-1) was led by Kim Rieff, who had 15 points, and Karen Polk, who added 14.

San Francisco State 67, UC San Diego 63--Valerie Seay scored 19 points while Trina Lintz added 13 as San Francisco State held off a late San Diego rally to score a season-opening win. UCSD (1-1), which plays Chapman in today’s 1 p.m. third-place game, was led by Jill Koster’s 20 points and 12 rebounds. Michele Leohner added 18 points for the Tritons.