Chapman Mixes It Up in Victory

Chapman men’s basketball Coach Mike Bokosky shuffled through his lineup Tuesday night against Whittier searching for a winning combination.

He found it early in the second half and the Panthers surged to an 83-62 victory at the Hutton Center. It was the seventh consecutive victory for 9-1 Chapman, which has matched its best start in 15 seasons.

Chapman is getting it done with depth. Bokosky consistently uses 12 players, liberally rotating players to help keep them fresh for the Panthers’ up-tempo style.

“I just try to feed off somebody’s energy,” Bokosky said. “We might substitute two, three, four or five guys at a time.”

A five-for-five swap two minutes into the second half proved to be the spark Tuesday. Chapman trailed, 40-37, when Aaron Aguilera, Wayemon Powell, Norman Coulter, Derek Mitchell and Darren Crooks stepped onto the court.

Powell, a point guard, made an immediate impact, forcing a turnover that led to his basket and assisting Crooks on a fast break to finish off a 6-0 run that gave Chapman a 43-40 lead. Powell, who had 16 points in the game, scored eight more during what became a 22-4 Chapman run and a 59-44 lead.

When that combination of players seemed to run out of steam, Bokosky sent in Pete Sverkos, who scored nine of his 16 points in a seven-minute stretch in the second half.

Whittier (4-4), which trailed, 8-0, and 11-2, early in the game before rallying to take a 35-34 halftime lead, couldn’t respond this time. The Poets (4-4) were lead by freshman guard Michael Haywood (25 points), but were hurt when Haywood received his fourth foul three minutes into the second half.

When Haywood returned from the bench 10 minutes later, Chapman led, 61-50. Whittier never got closer.

Greg Evans had eight points and Mitchell, Coulter, Crooks and Toby Curto each scored six for Chapman, which next plays Dec. 27 in the Occidental tournament.

In nonconference women’s basketball:

Siena Heights (Mich.) 70, Chapman 63--Lyndsay Brown had 23 points and six rebounds for Chapman (3-3), which had 31 turnovers and made only one of 11 three-point shots. Teammate Melissa Lopez had 13 points and nine rebounds. Bevin Malley had 18 points and 11 rebounds for visiting Siena Heights (3-8).