Chapman Learns an Early Lesson

Chapman men’s basketball Coach Mike Bokosky thought his team was ready to begin its first full season as an NCAA Division III independent Tuesday. He was wrong.

Claremont-Mudd, a team thatis returning four starters, including former Laguna Beach standout Darren Gravley, routed the visiting Panthers, 86-72. Chapman trailed by 11 points at the half, but Claremont extended the lead to as many as 30 points in the second half.

Bokosky, starting his third season at Chapman, blames himself for not preparing the Panther defense.

“We weren’t playing defense for more than two or three passes,” Bokosky said. “We sustained our defensive effort for five to 10 seconds maximum.”

Bokosky hopes to solve the problem quickly. Saturday, the Panthers play host to Division III Sonoma State in their home opener.

“This is a great learning experience for us,” Bokosky said. “It had better be a good learning experience.”

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Bokosky praised the play of sophomore point guard Adam Dzierzynski, who had 18 points, six assists and six steals, and Ramin Bastani, a freshman from Corona del Mar. Bastani, a first-team All-Sea View League selection, came off the bench to score 18 points.

“We thought he would be good,” Bokosky said of Bastani. “But I’m really pleasantly surprised that he’s better than we thought.”

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The Chapman women’s team opened the season with a 66-60 victory over Redlands. After trailing by four at the half, the Panthers rallied.

Senior guard Melody Earle, fourth on the school’s career scoring list, had a team-high 14 points. Alana Conyers, a transfer from Yavapai College in Arizona, had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Faye Cruz, a transfer from Sierra College in Northern California, had 13 points.

Like the men’s team, the Chapman women have been declared ineligible for the NCAA Division III playoffs this season because the Panthers didn’t play at least half their games against Division II opponents last season. But Coach Mary Hegarty said she hopes to successfully appeal the ruling.

“We’re not ready to give up yet,” she said. “But it will all be a moot point if we don’t win, so that’s what we are going to focus on.”

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The Southern California College men’s cross-country team fell short of its goal of a top-20 finish at the NAIA national championships Saturday, but Coach Bryan Wilkins was encouraged by some individual performances.

The Vanguards, who were seeded 18th in the race, finished 22nd of 35 teams. However, junior Jason Schaefer finished 50th, running the eight-kilometer course in Kenosha, Wis., in 25 minutes 57 seconds.

He came within 20 places and 22 seconds of being an All-American. Freshman John Bischop (105th in 26:37), junior Wes Hinson (115th in 26:43), junior Tim Hardin (240th in 27:56), freshman Brian Pratt (266th in 28:23), sophomore Dan Palmer (282nd in 28:48) and Jason Goddard (304th in 29:34) rounded out the field for SCC.

“We were excited just to be there,” Wilkins said. “This gave our team a vision of what nationals is all about. They are already talking about next year.”