ORANGE, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team fell in overtime to SCIAC opponent Chapman 75-70 on Wednesday night at the Hutton Sports Center.
 
Season Impact: with the loss, the Sagehens slide into third place in the SCIAC at 16-5 overall and 9-3 in conference play.
 
The Sagehens were led by Ty Bergman with a team-high 18 points in the loss. Joe Cookson tacked on 15 points and eight rebounds while Peyton Mullarkey and Japer Hedin each added 10.
 
The Sagehens actually led almost every statistical category against Chapman after they outshot the Panthers from the field and from three at 44.6% and 41.2%, outscored Chapman in the paint 30-2, and turned the ball over eight times and forced Chapman to turn the ball over nine times.  The difference in the game was the Panthers' ability to hit the big shot in critical situations late in the second half and in overtime to lift them over the Sagehens in the win.
 
A slow start for both teams on offense with a scoreless first two minutes of the game before Chapman hit a three for the first points of the game.  Chapman started the game with an 8-0 run, but the Sagehens came back with a 7-0 run from Pete Boyle and Cookson to make it 8-7 at the first timeout of the game. 
 
The Sagehens held a slight advantage throughout the middle of the first half and took control of the game with a basket on four straight possessions to take a 29-20 lead with just under five minutes to play until halftime.
 
Chapman cut into the lead late outscoring the Sagehens 9-5 down the stretch and with points at a premium in the first half, the Sagehens went into halftime up 32-29.
 
Chapman came out of halftime and took a 41-37 lead over the Sagehens with a 12-5 run out of the gate in the first five minutes of the second half. Pomona-Pitzer got back even with Chapman and the two teams exchanged leads 10 times In the second half. The Sagehens had a chance to win the game with an inbounds play to end the second half but couldn't get a shot up as the two teams went into overtime tied at 61-61.
 
The Panthers shot lights out in the overtime period hitting on 3-4 threes to help them come away with the win. Chapman took a 65-61 lead to start the period and every time the Sagehens got within striking distance, another huge three put Chapman up by five as they were able to hold off the Sagehens in overtime for the win.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will next have a huge matchup against CMS at home on Saturday, February 10^th at 2:00 p.m.