Haslam scores 26 points but Chapman men’s basketball team falls to league-leading Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 66-57

Chapman junior Cam Haslam advances the ball in Saturday’s game.

Junior Cam Haslam scored 26 points but the Chapman University men’s basketball team fell 66-57 to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday. The Panthers led by two points at the half over the SCIAC-leading Stags.

With 6:05 to go in the first half, Chapman was in an 18-11 hole. The Panthers responded with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to climb back within a point. After CMS stopped the run on a layup from Chukwueloka Oti, Haslam knocked down a three-pointer to knot the game at 20-20 with 3:54 to go.

CMS’ Miles President scored five of his game total of 11 points in the next 40 seconds to put the Stags back out in front.

The Panthers held the Stags scoreless over the final 2:57 of the half while Haslam knocked down a jumper and converted a three-point play to tie the game back up at 25-25. Junior Colin Ferrier came up with a steal on the other end of the floor and tipped in a Haslam miss just before time expired to put Chapman up 27-25 at the half.

Haslam led the squad with 26 points, raising his season average back to an even 20 points per game. Ferrier had a game-high 10 rebounds while Haslam grabbed eight boards – all on the defensive end. Senior Reed Nakakihara pitched in 14 points, including a 6-for-6 mark at the free throw line.

The lead continually changed hands over the first eight minutes of the second half. Another bucket from Haslam put Chapman up 37-36 with just over 12 minutes to play. CMS rattled off a 13-4 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to go ahead for good. Nakakihara stopped the run when he drained a three-pointer despite being fouled and knocked down the free throw to make 49-45.

That would be the closest the Panthers would get as the Stags pulled away down the stretch to come away with the win.

Nicolas Segura led the Stags with 18 points and the Stags’ bench outscored Chapman 18-1. Chapman shot just 37 percent in the game with CMS shot an even 50 percent, including a 7-of-13 mark from three-point range.

The Panthers play both game on the road next week at Cal Lutheran and Whittier but return home on Wednesday, Jan. 30 to host Occidental at 7 p.m.