Chapman Gets Break and Victory

The appearance of the Cal State Los Angeles men’s basketball team at Hutton Sports Center Saturday night came none too soon for Chapman College.

The Panthers definitely needed this kind of a game. Cal State Los Angeles, 0-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. and winless at home, has recorded its only victories against Cal Lutheran and Fresno Pacific.

Chapman quickly made sure there wouldn’t be a third victory for the Golden Eagles, at least not Saturday, by winning, 81-59, before 1,050 fans.

The Panthers, 12-8 overall and in a four-way fourth-place tie in the conference at 3-4, had lost two straight games, including a six-point loss at home to Cal State Northridge on Thursday.

Chapman put together a strong first half to take a 44-32 halftime lead. The Panthers shot 67% in the first half and 57% for the game.

“It was very important,” said Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson of getting off to a good start. “When we talked yesterday, we didn’t talk about winning this game or that game or winning the league or making the playoffs. . . . We just said we should try to rise to a newer level.”

Which, wasn’t too difficult against the Golden Eagles, a team that set a school record on Saturday night for most losses in a season (16).

Leading the Panthers was Kelly Huston with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Against Northridge, Huston had a season low of two rebounds. This time, Huston had help as Andy Stensgard scored 19 points and had 7, Russ Ortega scored 11 and Dave Roth 10.

Ken Horton scored 18 points for Cal State Los Angeles.