ROUNDUP : Nothing Pretty, but Chapman Climbs Out of Cellar With Victory

Chapman University’s 91-81 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday wasn’t a thing of beauty, but it was a soothing sight for Panther Coach Mike Bokosky.

Bokosky hasn’t had it easy in his first season as a head coach. But with his mentor, Bill Mulligan, watching from the stands, the Panthers built a comfortable lead and held on to pull themselves out of last place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Mulligan, the coach at Irvine Valley College who gave Bokosky his first college coaching job at UC Irvine in 1980, joined a Hutton Center homecoming crowd of 812, the largest Chapman home crowd of the season.

“It was a nice night for the players because it was homecoming and their parents were here,” Bokosky said. “It was a nice night for me because my best friend Bill Mulligan was here.”

With three games left in the regular season, Chapman (6-17, 3-8 in the CCAA) is in seventh place, two games out of fourth and the final CCAA tournament berth. San Luis Obispo (8-15, 2-9) is alone in last place.

Chapman’s five seniors--Vern Broadnax, Jeff Gardner, Mike Vaughn, Brian Kenney and Richie Bethune--were introduced with their parents before the game and helped the Panthers to an early lead.

Chapman led by as many as 18 points in the first half before San Luis Obispo cut it to 43-32 at halftime.

San Luis Obispo was able to cut the deficit to eight several times in the second half, but the Panthers hung on with some timely free-throw shooting.

Chapman, which entered the game shooting 68% from the line this season, has struggled in some recent games, including a 10-for-23 performance in a 77-56 loss to UC Riverside. But the Panthers made 25 of 32 in the second half (78.1%) and 35 of 47 for the game (74.5%).

In a Golden State Athletic Conference game:

Azusa Pacific 72, Christ College Irvine 69--Scott Day made a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to lead Azusa Pacific (24-2, 9-0). D’Andre Brown had 34 points and 17 rebounds for Christ College Irvine (13-12, 4-5).

In a nonconference game:

Biola 114, Pacific Christian 74--Charles Ross led Pacific Christian with 35 points, 15 rebounds and two assists.

The Master’s 77, Southern California College 56--Mike West had 18 points and Tony Hyner had 15 points for Southern California College (16-10).

In Golden State Athletic Conference women’s basketball:

Christ College Irvine 78, Azuza Pacific 66--Gitte Mejer had 29 points and 13 rebounds and Genevieve Graff had 21 points and nine rebounds for CCI (23-4, 9-0), which clinched its second consecutive conference championship. CCI, ranked 25th in NAIA Division I, won its 14th consecutive game. Azuza Pacific is 14-8, 5-4.

In the Big West Conference:

Nevada 81, UC Irvine 74--Yvonne Catala had 26 points and Karie Yoshoika had 19 points including a career high five three-pointers for UC Irvine (2-18, 1-11).

In a nonconference game:

Cal State Fullerton 74, Cal State Northridge 63--Allison Jackson had 23 points and six assists and Shefonda Colbert had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for host Fullerton (5-14, 2-10), which ended a four-game losing streak.