COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Chapman Fades in Stretch, Loses at UC Riverside

One night after losing to CS San Bernardino, one of the weakest teams in the conference, the Chapman men’s basketball team went after one of the best Saturday.

If the result, a 63-58 loss at UC Riverside, was predictable, the route to it was less-than-ordinary as the Panthers outplayed the Highlanders, ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II, for most of the game before sputtering in the final two minutes.

It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Panthers (5-9, 0-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.), who also have an eight-game conference losing streak. However, Chapman Coach Bob Boyd saw some improvement.

“This was their best effort because they were playing a legitimate nationally ranked team,” Boyd said.

UC Riverside (13-1, 2-0) was almost knocked on its national ranking by a scrappy Chapman team that led by two points with 3 minutes 48 seconds left in the game.

Riverside scored the next four points to go up, 58-56, with 2:59 remaining before Vern Broadnax made to free throws at 2:14 to tie the score, 58-58.

But Chris Hantgin made a three-point shot on Riverside’s next possession to give the Highlanders a 61-58 lead and Chapman was unable to score again.

The Panthers had taken a 32-28 halftime lead on the strength of 60.7% shooting from the field. Rog Middleton scored nine of his game-high 13 points in the first half, but played much of the second half in foul trouble before fouling out with 46 seconds remaining.

A basket by Broadnax gave the Panthers their final lead, 56-54, but the Highlanders outscored Chapman, 9-2, down the stretch.

Gene Altamirano, of Los Amigos High and Rancho Santiago College, and Anthony Jenkins each scored nine points for the Highlanders, who had seven players who scored at least seven points.