COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Chapman Falls to Fresno Pacific in Final

It’s only the third game of the season and the Chapman College basketball has yet to jell as a unit. But a few things are evident.

--First, the Panthers have trouble scoring from the outside.

--Second, the Panthers have trouble keeping other teams from scoring from the outside.

Those two little problems led to the Panthers’ downfall Saturday in the Doubletree tournament final, where Fresno Pacific shot down Chapman, 80-67, in front of 600 at the Hutton Sports Center.

The Sunbirds (4-0) made 66% of their shots in the second half to rally from an eight-point halftime deficit. Most of their shots came from the perimeter with little interference.

“We allowed far too many uncontested shots,” Panther Coach Bob Boyd said.

Far too many.

Fresno Pacific made 10 of 12 three-point field goals for the game and was nine of nine in the second half.

At one point, the Sunbirds made four consecutive three-point field goals to turn a 55-51 lead into a 67-55 advantage.

“I was more concerned about our inability to stop their perimeter shooting than our ability to shoot from the outside,” Boyd said. “I know we have good shooters.”

It was hard to tell Saturday. Chris Martin, Von Shuler and Andre Hill, the Panthers’ three best outside shooters, were a combined eight of 31.

Trailing, 39-31, early in the half, the Sunbirds went on a 12-4 run to tie the score, 43-43. Scott Patterson, who scored 20 points, and Donnie Johnson, who had 15, each hit three pointers during the run.

Fresno Pacific took the lead for good with 13 minutes left on a tip-in by Eugene Hostetler, who scored 16 points. After that, the Panthers found themselves on the losing end of an outside shooting contest.

Chapman (2-1) led through most of the first half. Frantz Reyes scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, all on layups. He also had six rebounds, five of which were offensive.

The Panthers’ Roger Middleton had nine points and 11 rebounds in the first half, and continued to dominate the inside in the second half, finishing with 19 points and 19 rebounds.

In the Doubletree tournament women’s final:

Pepperdine 56, Chapman 51--Shannon Frowliss had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Waves at Chapman. Jennifer Uecke scored 10 points to lead Chapman.

In other nonconference men’s basketball:

Southern California College 98, UC Santa Cruz 83--Terry Scruggs had 28 points and nine rebounds to lead visiting Southern California College. UC Santa Cruz was led by Ray Wilson, who had a game-high 31 points, and Mike Robinson, who had 27.

In nonconference women’s basketball:

University of San Diego 57, UC Irvine 34--Sophomore guard Julie Doria had nine points and Julie Lemery and Paula Mascari each had eight to lead the University of San Diego in a nonconference opener for both teams at Irvine. Junior guard Jenny Lee led Irvine with 13 points and teammate Shurell Johnson had eight rebounds.