Men's Basketball
2/2/2008 - Royals Lose Game and Heads Against Panthers
Fullerton, CA- Hope International came within two minutes of ending Chapman’s eight game winning streak but fell 67-66 in a non-conference game on Saturday. Three Royals scoring in double figures was not enough to overcome the five Panthers that finished in double digits.
Frustration reared its ugly head as the Royals (1-17) were uncharacteristically whistled for three technical fouls. Senior Aron Cline, who was the Royals’ leading scorer in the first half with 8 points, received a technical foul five minutes into the second half. He never came back in to the game and finished with 8 points.
Senior Travis Hardeman and Junior Ryan Sewitsky were whistled for technical fouls fifteen seconds apart in the final 20 seconds of the game.
Unfortunately, when the dust cleared, the technical fouls ultimately cost the Royals the game.
As a team, the Royals used outstanding free throw shooting and a balanced attack to stay in the game. They shot a season high 88% (22-25) from the free throw line. Sewitsky lead the way from the line by hitting all eight of his attempts on his way to a team high 13 points.
Sophomore Michael Johnson was also perfect from the line- 4 of 4.
Junior Arron Boone (12 points) and Freshman Richard Merical (10 points) were a combined 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. Boone also pulled 5 rebounds tying Hardeman and Cline for the team high.
As well as the Royals shot from the line, they came just short against the Panther’s unselfish offense. The Panthers had five players score 10 points or more. Miguel Bennett led the way with a double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds).
Kyle Wood dropped in a game high 14 points. Jared Kaiser finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Dan Aguilar and Justin Riley both ended up with 10 points.
The win improves the Panthers to 16-6 which includes a current nine game winning streak.
The Royals return to GSAC play on Tuesday when they travel to La Mirada to square off against Biola. The Royals defeated the Eagles earlier in the year for their only win of the season. Tip-ff is scheduled for 7:30 pm as the back end of a double header with the women’s team. Both games can be heard on Stretch Internet.