Chapman Beaten by Seattle Pacific, 69-66 : Panthers’ Rally Is Spoiled by 3-Pointer With Two Seconds Left

Mike Sundquist hit a three-point shot with two seconds remaining to lift Seattle Pacific University to a 69-66 victory over Chapman College Saturday at Orange.

Chapman, which trailed by as many as 20 points, never led, but tied the game at 66 when Dave Roth sank a field goal and a free throw with 1:14 to go.

Seattle Pacific then worked the clock for a final shot, getting a reset of the 45-second clock when Roth kicked the ball out of bounds. Claude Terry, Seattle Pacific coach, used two timeouts to set up the final play, only to have improvisation overrule strategy.

“It’s great when the players don’t do what they’re supposed to do and you still win,” Terry said. “We wanted to go inside and instead we get a three-pointer. It’s not exactly what we wanted to happen, but sometimes spontaneity is better than discipline.”

Chapman had two seconds to work a final play, but after a timeout, the Panthers were unable to inbound the ball.

Chapman (5-3) snapped a three-game winning streak on a night that the Panthers earned high marks for fighting back from a miserable half.

“It’s disappointing but it’s also enlightening,” said Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson. “You’ve got to give us an A-plus for effort.”

The Panthers didn’t deserve any high marks for their first-half performance. With Kelly Huston spending more time on the bench than on the court because of foul trouble, Chapman shot a dismal 30% from the field in the first half, during which the Panthers hit just 10 field goals.

Meanwhile, Seattle Pacific shot a blistering 71% to forge a 43-27 edge at intermission.

That quickly became 47-27 before Huston and Roth came alive. Huston, who didn’t have a field goal in the first half, hit 5 of 7 attempts in the second half for 22 points.

Roth hit 4 of 5 in the second half, finishing with 16 points.

Sundquist paced Seattle Pacific with 18 points while Scott Rolfness added 15.