Chapman’s Mumaw Finishes Season With a Flourish

Stefan Mumaw put a finish to his college basketball career Saturday. Too bad he didn’t have a very good view of it.

Poked in the eye during a half-time celebration, Mumaw spent much of the second half of Chapman’s 83-74 men’s basketball victory over Menlo College on the bench, pressing an ice bag to his face.

Mumaw, a 6-foot-8 center from University High, had completed the first half with a defining dunk.

With three seconds remaining, he got the ball at the three-point line, dribbled around one Menlo player and dunked over a second.

The basket gave Chapman a six-point lead and incited Chapman fans. A scrum of Mumaw’s old friends rushed onto the floor and exchanged high fives with him.

Moments later, a student manager attempted another high five, swung and missed, poking Mumaw in the eye.

Mumaw, who had 10 points at the half, only scored four in the second half. But he stuck around as long as he could and finished with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

“I see double vertically,” Mumaw said, “and it’s difficult to catch a ball when you don’t know which one is coming at you.

“But I wasn’t going to stay out of the game in my last game.”

Fortunately for Chapman, there were plenty of Panthers to pick up the slack.

It was senior night and Anthony Gonzales, Edgar Diaz and Jason Roczey started with Mumaw and sophomore point guard Adam Dzierzynski. It was a lethargic start for Chapman, which trailed by as many as 12 points early.

But sophomore Toby Curto and freshman Ramin Bastani entered, and the Panthers soon were playing at their usual pace.

Chapman still trailed by seven points, 37-30, with 4 minutes 28 seconds left in the half, but Mumaw tipped in an alley-oop pass from Dzierzynski to start the 14-2 run that was finished by the dunk.

Menlo (15-10) cut the lead to two early in the second half, but Curto and Dzierzynski each made a three-pointer and a two-pointer in a 10-2 run and Chapman was never seriously challenged again.

Curto finished with 18 points, Bastani 16 and Dzierzynski 15 and five assists.

Chapman finished 18-7, its best season since 1983-84, when the Panthers were 22-6. Chapman, in its first season as an NCAA Division III program, isn’t eligible for the playoffs.