Chapman Enjoys Comforts of Home

The home of the Chapman College Panthers, Hutton Sports Center, doesn’t exactly provoke fear in opposing teams.

It’s a tiny place, which seats about 2,200, second smallest in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. But that doesn’t really work to the Panthers’ advantage because the place is rarely occupied by more than 600 spectators. Five or six hundred people can make a lot of noise, to be sure, but Hutton Sports Center is no loud pit.

Although that’s the case, this year’s numbers make it look as though the Panthers are a lock at home.

Chapman defeated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 63-61, in Hutton Sports Center Friday night in front of 525. The Panthers are 7-1 at home, with the loss coming to Hawaii Pacific College in early December.

For Chapman, the road is a different story. The Panthers are just 1-6 away from home, and needed to go into overtime against UC Davis to get that victory.

“I don’t know why it is,” said senior guard Jon Samuelson. “Although when it comes down to the crucial part, we’ve been playing good and not folding.”

That was illustrated as Chapman fell behind, 12-3, eight minutes into the game. Despite shooting 37% in the first half, the Panthers somehow managed to come back to tie the Mustangs at halftime, 26-26.

“After shooting so poorly and we were tied, I thought that’s a great sign on the defensive end,” Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson said.

Something had to be going right for the Panthers because their top three players had these kind of numbers:

--Samuelson suffered through a dismal first half and finished with 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field.

--Kelly Huston took just five shots from the field, making three and finishing with seven points.

--Karl Tompkins was 3 of 11 and had just eight points. Foul trouble hurt his numbers as he left the game with 8:00 remaining.

But, typical of a Chapman home game, others managed to fill the void. Freshman Dave Roth, who scored eight points, started Chapman’s second-half rally with a basket to pull the Panthers to 48-43 with 7:13 left. San Luis Obispo had a run of eight straight points before Roth’s basket.

Then, the Panthers outscored the Mustangs, 9-0, to take a 52-48 lead with 4:09 remaining. San Luis Obispo resorted to fouling Chapman down the stretch, but the Panthers made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:15.

Chapman held Sean Chambers, the co-conference player of the year last season, to 15 points and no rebounds. Mike Wintringer had 10 points and Melvin Parker and Kurt Colvin added eight each.

The loss was the Mustangs’ first in the last five games. They upset Cal State Bakersfield--which had been ranked No. 14 in the nation among NCAA schools--in their conference opener last week.

“They might have been (letdown) after that game,” said Mustang Coach Steve Beason, whose team is 1-1 in the conference and 9-6 overall. “We didn’t execute . . . that might be attributed to Chapman. It’s tough to win on the road.”

Just ask Wilson. Luckily for him, Chapman (8-7, 1-1) gets to play Bakersfield tonight at home, before playing at Loyola Marymount.