Chapman Rally Falls Short at Cal Poly Pomona

Cal Poly Pomona beat Chapman, 76-70, Thursday in the final California Collegiate Athletic Assn. meeting between the two schools.

Chapman (6-18, 3-9 in conference) is leaving the CCAA next season to compete on the Division III level.

Jeff Gardner had 19 and Brian Kennedy 18 for visiting Chapman, which was down, 32-25, at the half. Pomona led by as many as 13 in the second half before Chapman made it close with a late run.

Matt Mitchell had 15 for Pomona (12-12, 5-7), which is within 1/2-games of fourth-place Cal State San Bernardino. The top four teams advance to the CCAA post-season tournament.

Tim Cage and Joe Jennum had 11 each for Pomona. Mitchell had a team-high seven rebounds as Pomona out-rebounded the Panthers, 45-37.

Chapman has two more games this season. The Panthers are at Cal State Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at Cal State Dominguez Hills for an 8:05 p.m. game Feb. 27.