Middleton’s 27 Help Chapman Win : College: Forward feels ill but scores 20 of Panthers’ first 27 points in second half in victory over Cal Poly Pomona.

Chapman forward Rog Middleton was nauseated in the Panthers’ men’s basketball game Friday night, but it’s not what you might think.

Chapman’s struggles this season might have turned a few stomachs, but not this time--the Panthers dominated the second half and defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 73-56, in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game at Hutton Center.

So what was Middleton doing vomiting midway through the second half after the Panthers had taken a comfortable lead?

Middleton has had similar problem’s in three previous games this season. Previously, he blamed it on the anti-inflamitory medicine he takes because of the chronic tendinitis in his knees.

“I didn’t take anything tonight, and I still came up throwing up,” Middleton said. “I can’t help that.”

But by the time he was forced out for two minutes, he had already helped put away Pomona, which entered the game in fourth place.

Middleton scored the Panthers’ first 14 points of the second half and 20 of their first 27 of the half. Middleton, who had two points as the Panthers took a 28-28 tie into halftime, made his first field goal of the game two minutes into the second half.

When he left the game with 8 minutes 35 seconds to play, the Panthers had a 55-45 lead and they maintained at least a 10-point lead the rest of the way.

The victory ended a six-game losing streak for the Panthers (7-15, 2-8), who have now won only two of their past 16 conference games over two seasons. Pomona (13-10, 5-5) needed a victory to strengthen its hold on fourth place and one of the four CCAA tournament berths.

But Pomona was frustrated by an aggressive Panther defense that forced 22 Bronco turnovers.

Pomona had a scoreless stretch of 5:51 midway through the second half. During that span, the Broncos were outscored, 15-0, and had one stretch in which they committed four consecutive turnovers.

After falling behind, the Broncos weren’t able to rally largely because of their abysmal outside shooting. They missed all 18 of their three-point attempts.

Middleton, who is chasing the Chapman career-scoring record of Bob Hamblin, finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. He now needs 82 points to surpass Hamblin, who scored 1,884 from 1956-59. With four games remaining, Middleton must average 20.5 to break the record.

Brian Kenney and Mike Vaughn each added 12 points for the Panthers. Chancellor McCobb had 18 points for Pomona.