Chapman Holds On in Short Stretch to Win in the Long Run, 77-75

Within a span of 39 seconds Thursday night, Chapman College’s chances of defeating Cal Poly Pomona in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game went from good to . . . well, let’s just say, not quite so good.

For in that short stretch, Panther center Kelly Huston picked up his third and fourth fouls. So, with 6:59 remaining, Chapman tried to pick up the pieces as Huston sat out for a little more than 1 1/2 minutes.

The Panthers managed to stay close and were down by four when Huston returned. Still, the eventual victory came with anything but ease as Chapman defeated Pomona, 77-75, in the Hutton Sports Center at Orange.

The loss was the Broncos’ first in four conference games, dropping Pomona (8-9 overall) into a four-way tie with Cal State Bakersfield, UC Riverside and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for the CCAA lead. As for Chapman, which is 11-6 and 2-2 in the CCAA, the victory proved it could win a tight conference game.

“I asked our guys what they thought afterward and the general comment all around was that we played a pretty organized game and worked hard,” said Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson. “This really was a great college game that could have gone either way . . . it was a typical CCAA game.”

Said first-year Pomona Coach Dave Bollwinkel, looking exhausted: “I’ve seen all the teams in the conference and I haven’t found one I feel confident playing against.”

Bollwinkel had good reason to worry, even when his team took a four-point lead with 2:22 remaining. Chapman’s Dave Roth hit a three-pointer from the left corner, cutting the deficit to one. Pomona missed on its next trip down the floor, and Huston put Chapman ahead for good with a easy basket off an inbound lob pass with 1:03 left.

“I never felt good,” said Bollwinkel of the four-point lead. “Maybe if we’re up by 20 with a minute and a half to go, I’ll feel OK. But tonight I never felt comfortable. And I’m sure Kevin never felt comfortable up by two when we were on the baseline.”

What led to that point, with six seconds remaining, Huston tipped in Bryan Richetto’s shot, giving the Panthers a 77-75 lead. After a timeout, Pomona’s Chris Jefferson’s 35-foot attempt with two seconds left hit the rim.

Leading Chapman, once again, was Huston, who scored 32 points and had 9 rebounds. Roth had 20, Russ Ortega added 18 and Richetto had 11 assists. For Pomona, Jefferson led with 26 points, and Tony Theisen had 16 points and Nate Macon added 10.

What made Chapman’s victory even more significant was that it was achieved without the help of Huston’s backup, Andy Stensgard, who missed Chapman’s road games over the weekend because of his father’s death. He played just one minute Thursday night, leaving the game after a collision near the Pomona bench early in the first half. He eventually needed 37 stitches to close the cut on his face.