One Streak Continues and Another Ends in Chapman’s 78-64 Win

The long-awaited victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills finally arrived for Chapman College as the Panthers defeated the Toros, 78-64, Friday night at Hutton Sports Center before 1,000 spectators.

Chapman’s Kelly Huston had never been on the winning side against Dominguez Hills. For that matter, neither had Panther Coach Kevin Wilson, going 0-7 against the Toros in his coaching career at Chapman.

But thanks to Huston, with some help from his teammates, the streak died, and a new one continued. The Panthers, in winning their California Collegiate Athletic Assn. opener, have won five straight games.

Though Huston, a senior, had said earlier this week that this meeting with the Toros was extra special because of the streak, Wilson pointed out that for most of Huston’s teammates, it was just another game. And afterward Wilson said he felt the same way.

“I really didn’t think about it before or afterward,” he said. “Streaks come and go. We never really talked about it in there (the locker room).”

Actually, the Panthers (10-4) didn’t need any extra incentive. Dominguez Hills, which was the conference co-champion last season, lost four starters from that team and arrived at Chapman with a .500 record, 6-6.

After Chapman took a 12-point halftime lead, the end of its losing streak against Dominguez Hills almost seemed a foregone conclusion. However, the Toros briefly made things interesting, closing the deficit to seven with 10:04 remaining. Dominguez Hills had the chance to pull within five points, but Barry Johnson missed the two free throws and the Toros never got any closer.

The Panthers dominated in every area, shooting 60% for the game and outrebounding the Toros, 30-19. And, even more encouraging was that someone other than Huston led Chapman in scoring. Freshman guard Bryan Richetto, who also had 6 assists, had 18 points. Huston scored 16 and Dave Roth added 10 in 24 minutes.

For Dominguez Hills, Bryan Dell’Amico scored a game-high 20 points. Derrick Clark and Anthony Blackmon each had 12.

“There is going to be competitive balance in the league again,” Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai said. “And I think you certainly have to put Chapman right there at the top with a couple of others.”

Chapman Notes

Dominguez Hills freshman forward Desi Hazely, who played for Ocean View High last season, didn’t see any action against Chapman Friday night. This came after Hazely missed several practices this week because of personal problems. “Hopefully, he’s been able to clear up those problems,” Toro Coach Dave Yanai said. “He’s very important for us because we’re very thin on the front line.” Hazely started the first seven games of the season, coming off the bench the other five, to average 6.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. . . . Chapman, which has played only 3 of its 14 games on the road, travels to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Bakersfield next weekend in CCAA action. . . . In the first half, referee Jim Farmer asked Kelly Huston’s father, who is also named Kelly, to leave the gym after he protested a call. Walt Bowman, Chapman’s athletic director, was asked to escort the father out.