Chapman men’s basketball team tops La Sierra 80-49 behind White’s strong effort

Chandler White scores a basket to help lead Chapman to a victory Thursday night.

Sophomore Chandler White helped lead the Chapman University men’s basketball team to an 80-49 victory over La Sierra Thursday night, all while earning his first career double-double.

White put up 16 points in the Panthers’ dominant victory, adding 14 rebounds for the career achievement. Senior Reed Nakakihara and junior Cam Haslam joined White with double-digit points. Nakakihara led Chapman with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, while Haslam posted 15 points and two steals.

The Golden Eagles took their only lead of the game when senior Cameron Jackson made the first basket of the game. A couple of layups from Haslam and fellow senior Jeff Kenney changed the lead in Chapman’s favor.

Senior Kenny Lewis tied it back up with a three, but it was all Panther action after that. Nakakihara kicked off a 12-1 run with back-to-back threes, putting Chapman up 18-7 at the halfway point of the first half.

Lewis drained a shot from behind the arc to cut the Golden Eagles’ deficit to eight points, but the Panthers responded with eight consecutive points to double their lead. La Sierra made a late run and tacked on 10 points to trail 36-28 after the first half.

A jumper from Lewis and a layup from Jackson out of the second half whistle brought the Golden Eagles back within two points with 16 minutes left to play in the game. Nakakihara put up two more threes as the Panthers went on an 18-4 run to extend their lead. The senior captain drained his sixth three pointer of the game give Chapman their largest win margin so far this season – 31 points.

Freshman Daniel Foldes scored eight points and grabbed seven boards in 15 minutes of the bench. Sophomore Kevin Marlow went a perfect 6-of-6 from the line while also tallying three rebounds and three assists.

The Panthers scored half their points in the paint while capitalizing with 19 points on turnovers. Chapman’s defense held the Golden Eagles to just 18-of-53 field goal shooting.