FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PANTHERS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT IN INDEPENDENTS TOURNAMENT OPENER

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men’s basketball team defeated Division III independent rival U.C. Santa Cruz 75-64 at Hutton Center on Friday night, earning its third straight victory. The Panthers, who are hosting a three-day round-robin event with Santa Cruz, La Sierra University and the University of Dallas, will go for a season-high fourth straight win on Saturday night.

Chapman (11-6) got sizable contributions from a handful of players in building a 19-point halftime lead. The Panthers led by as many as 24 in the second half thanks to a game-high 12 points from freshman G Griffin Ramme, who nailed a pair of three-pointers. Another freshman Justin Riley scored 10 and added six rebounds off the bench, while sophomore C Jared Kaiser scored 10 for Chapman.

Freshman John Buck led the way for the Banana Slugs with 10 points. U.C. Santa Cruz (2-12) suffered its 10th straight defeat.

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La Sierra 65, Dallas (TX) 55
Golden Eagles’ big man Ryan White scored a game-high 20 and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double to lead La Sierra (4-11) over Dallas. White knocked down four three-pointers in the game as the Eagles led during the entire second half. Normand Hall and Roshawn Knight scored 17 and 16 points, respectively for La Sierra, which snapped a brief two-game skid. La Sierra will face Chapman on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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Game stats available online:
UCSC-CU: /athletics/07-08/mbasketball/ucsc-cu.htm
LSU-UD: /athletics/07-08/mbasketball/ud-lsu.htm