Chapman Battles Past Pacific Christian

Although the teams are heading in opposite directions, Chapman and Pacific Christian went to the wire before the Panthers squeaked out a 73-72 victory in a nonconference men’s basketball game Wednesday at Fullerton College.

Gil Gonzales scored 21 points and Nate Strange had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Chapman (10-10), which defeated Pacific Christian (4-26) in November, 75-67.

But Wednesday the Panthers needed two free throws from center Anthony Brown (14 points, 12 rebounds) with eight seconds remaining to push the lead to 73-70, and make the rebound basket at the buzzer by Pacific Christian’s Dan Shields meaningless.

Coach Mike Bokosky said Chapman has been playing well lately--winning four of its last six road games--and he isn’t unhappy with his team’s performance considering it features no seniors and no returning starters from last season.

It has been tougher for first-year Pacific Christian Coach Tom Moody to find encouraging signs.

One bright spot has been the recent scoring binge by guard Josh Whelihan, a senior and former All-Sea View League player from University High.

He scored 47 points in a 90-81 victory over LIFE Bible Jan. 27, then piled up 48 in a 110-79 loss at UC San Diego.

Chapman limited Whelihan to 23 points on seven of 19 shooting Wednesday, but he has averaged 33 points in his last four games. Not bad considering Whelihan has played the entire season with a stress fracture in his lower left leg.

“I didn’t have a redshirt year left so I just decided to keep playing,” Whelihan said. “I can’t jump off my left leg, but icing it numbs the pain some.”