CHAPMAN DOUBLETREE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Chapman Compensates for Turnovers to Win Title

Sixteen first-half turnovers didn’t bother Chapman College Coach Bob Boyd Saturday night in the championship game of the Chapman/Doubletree Basketball Classic.

That’s because Chapman’s defense held Grand Canyon (2-1) to 25 first-half points on 35% shooting, and the Panthers (4-0) survived a second-half Grand Canyon rally for a 77-69 victory.

“It seems there is a trade-off with the turnovers and the shots we get,” Boyd said. “We may throw some passes away under pressure, but we’ll get a lot more chances to slam it in the goal.”

Chapman center Roger Middleton did much of that for Boyd, scoring the majority of his team-high 22 points from inside.

Andre Hill, the tournament Most Valuable Player, handled Chapman’s outside scoring, making three of four three-point shots and finishing with 19 points.

Chapman made 57% of its field goals but still needed some clutch free-throw shooting to hold off Grand Canyon.

The Panthers made 22 of 28 free throws from the line, including sixth man Chuck McGavran’s six of six in the final three minutes.

“I’m happy with the win, because I think we beat a pretty good team,” Boyd said, “and although Grand Canyon disrupted us at times, we adjusted well to their changing defenses.”

Chapman’s Frantz Reyes, who earned all-tournament honors along with Middleton and Hill, finished with 15 points. Eric Taylor led Grand Canyon with 17 points, 16 in the second half.

In the tournament consolation game:

Southern California College 98, Seattle 85--SCC’s Mike Henjum scored 27 points, and Jeff Bickmore added 26 and nine rebounds to lead the Vanguards (2-1) in the third-place game.

Bickmore earned all-tournament honors along with Everett Edwards, who scored 22 points for Seattle.

After leading by two at halftime, SCC made 66% of its shots in the second half.

The Vanguards made seven of 11 three-points shots, Henjum making four of six and adding a team high six assists.