Haslam scores 29 points to lead Chapman to 87-71 conference win over Cal Lutheran

Cam Haslam of Chapman goes up for a shot Wednesday night.

Junior Cam Haslam led the Chapman University men’s basketball team to a 87-71 win over visiting Cal Lutheran on Wednesday with a 29-point performance. The Panthers (4-2, 1-0 SCIAC) picked up the big SCIAC victory in the early season conference contest.

Haslam had the hot hand with a 29-point outburst that included five 3-pointers and led a hot shooting night from the Panthers. Chapman shot 57.1 percent as a team on the night. The Panthers were 8-of-15 from three-point range and 15-of-18 from the free throw line.

Cal Lutheran (2-4, 0-1 SCIAC) scored the initial bucket of the game but Chapman scored the next five points and never trailed again. The Panthers’ early lead reached as many as nine points at 22-13 near the midway point of the first half when senior Reed Nakakihara knocked down his second three-pointer of the game.

The Kingsmen responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game over the next three-plus minutes. Haslam ended the run to put the Panthers back on top just seconds after Tyler Brabant tied it for Cal Lutheran. Chapman went on to outscore the Kingsmen 20-11 throughout the rest of the half to build a 42-33 halftime lead.

Haslam scored 17 of his 29 points in the second half to help keep the Panthers out in front. Sophomore Chandler White scored 15 points to go along with seven rebounds while junior Colin Ferrier notched 11 points and six rebounds to go along with three assists.

The teams went back and forth over the first several minutes of the second half. Cal Lutheran eventually chipped the lead away to just two points when Kyle Ferreira made it 55-53 with a layup. However, freshman Daniel Foldes dropped in a layup on the other end for Chapman to spark a 9-0 run for Chapman. Austin Cole’s three-pointer stalled the run for a moment.

The Panthers went on to score the next 13 points with Haslam pouring in the final 11 points of the run to build the lead up to its pinnacle of 21 points at 77-56.

With just over six minutes left when the Panthers built their 21-point lead, Cal Lutheran started to chip away at the lead but Chapman held on for the win.

Ferreira scored 21 points to lead Cal Lutheran and Cole had 17. Foldes scored eight off the bench for Chapman while Nakakihara scored nine points on a trio of three-pointers.