COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Chapman Loses; Middleton 3 From Record

Cal State San Bernardino kept alive its hopes for a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament berth with a 78-63 victory over Chapman in front of a homecoming crowd of 621 Saturday at Hutton Center.

After San Bernardino (13-13, 6-7 in the conference) broke open a close game early in the second half, the only drama remaining was whether Chapman’s Rog Middleton would surpass Bob Hamblin as the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Entering the game, Middleton needed 33 points to break Hamblin’s record of 1,884 points set from 1955-59. And Middleton, a 6-foot-4 senior, had kept the Panthers (7-18, 2-11) in the game by scoring 21 points in the first half, making nine of 11 shots from the field and getting the ball inside despite a zone defense designed to keep it away from him.

But that defense stiffened in the second half--the Coyotes double- and sometimes triple-teamed him--and Middleton finished with 30 points, which tied his season-high and left him two points short of Hamblin.

Middleton, who has averaged 18.8 points in his four-year career, will take his final shot at the record next Saturday in the Panthers’ season finale against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Hamblin, a teacher at Kraemer Junior High in Placentia, was in attendance and introduced himself to Middleton after the game.

After leading, 42-38, at the half, San Bernardino went on a 11-3 run in the first six minutes of the second half to make it 53-41. The Panthers cut the margin to nine points on a jump shot by Middleton with 6 minutes 16 seconds left, but the Coyotes scored the next nine points to put it out of reach.

DeShang Weaver and Develle Walker each had 18 points for San Bernardino, which pulled away by spreading the floor and making quick cuts to the basket for easy layups.

Frantz Reyes, who had 10 points, was the only Chapman player other than Middleton in double figures. He also had 13 rebounds.

In California Collegiate Athletic Assn. women’s basketball:

Chapman 71, Cal State San Bernardino 59--Linda Kirby had 20 points and Tammie McQuain 17 as the visiting Panthers evened their record at 13-13, 6-6.