Fresno Pacific No Test for Chapman

Even after a lopsided victory over another undermatched team, it still remains to be seen whether Chapman is as good as its 5-2 record might indicate.

Is it because of a soft schedule--sprinkled with schools such as Point Loma Nazarene, Southern Utah State and Friday night’s opponent, Fresno Pacific--or are the Panthers for real this season?

The 79-58 victory over Fresno Pacific on Friday at Hutton Sports Center in Orange didn’t provide the answer as the Panthers played an excellent first half and looked sloppy in the second.

“You’ve got to be wondering which team shows up when you’re playing at Chapman,” said Fresno Pacific Coach Glenn Snyder. “We were hoping the one that didn’t play well would show up.”

In any event, the question probably won’t be answered until Chapman finally leaves the confines of Hutton Sports Center and travels to Tacoma, Wash., for the Puget Sound Holiday tournament Dec. 29-30. The Panthers have played all their games at home, but Coach Kevin Wilson expects a tougher game tonight against visiting Seattle Pacific University.

In the Puget Sound tournament, the Panthers are expected to face somewhat stiffer competition. They play Central Washington University in the opening round.

As for Friday’s game, it remained close--in score only--for only the first five minutes. Fresno Pacific scored at 14:45 to tie it 8-8, and it stayed stuck at eight until there was 7:57 remaining.

After committing six turnovers during this stretch, the Sunbirds ended the drought when Brian Falls made two free throws. That cut the deficit to 25-10 as the Panthers had run off 17 straight points, and, for all purposes, ran Fresno Pacific off the court.

Just how inept were the Sunbirds on Friday night?

--Fresno Pacific had 14 turnovers in the first half alone as it shot 29%, and made only seven field goals as it fell behind 41-22.

--The Sunbirds (2-4) earned the distinction of being on the other end of Chapman’s most one-sided victory this season. The Panthers hadn’t won a game by such a large margin since a 22-point victory over Cal State Los Angeles last January.

“It was sad,” said Snyder. “It was the worst game we’ve played all year, but maybe we should give Chapman’s defense some credit.”

Again, Kelly Huston continued his excellent play, leading the Panthers with 17 points. Mike Minier had 14 and Russ Ortega added 12. For Fresno Pacific, Dave Heidebrecht had 16.