Men’s basketball starts season off strong; can they keep it up?
Guard Hayden Moore goes in for a layup in the Chapman vs. Pomona Pitzer game Dec. 1. Photos by DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor
Chapman’s basketball team is off to a hot start this season entering their Dec. 8 home game against La Sierra University with a streak of 7-1. At the core of the team are veterans Hayden Moore, Chandler White, Alex Rogat, and with the help of a strong bench, the Panthers are looking to ride their momentum into the holiday break and beyond.
They’ve had lots of key wins already, including two against Whitman College, two against University of California, Santa Cruz and a recent blowout against California Lutheran University. It is early wins like this that help a team build confidence.
“The team has slowly gotten better and better each and every game,” said Ben Grant, a senior point guard and communication studies major. “Everybody is starting to figure out their role and how they can help the team win.”
A lot of the Panthers’ early success can be attributed to clearly understanding team goals and expectations before the season. The team took their preseason period very seriously and used it to get ready so they could hit the ground running.
“We put an emphasis on practicing with a purpose,” said Nathan Williams, a sophomore applied human physiology major. “Locking in every practice and buying into what the coaches have in store for us is a major key to becoming an elite team. Our coaches have also really instilled resilience and trust upon our team every single day.”
Chapman only has one loss on the season so far — a 76-62 defeat to Pomona-Pitzer Dec. 2. They struggled with perimeter shooting as Pomona-Pitzer outshot the Panthers 50% to 36% from the field. The Panthers made it a key point to improve upon this and bounce back.
“It's really important to have a short-term memory as far as losses go,” Williams said. “We’ve got a long season ahead of us, and we can’t let one game define our season and who we are. It's about making sure you make improvements and revisiting the things that we need to work on in practice.”
Guard Jack Roggan swoops the ball in the Dec. 1 Pomona-Pitzer game .
Grant echoed a similar sentiment, explaining how the loss simply catalyzes the team to reflect on their strategies for the next time they’re out on the court.
“We just missed a couple of assignments on the defensive end and didn't execute the best of our abilities offensively,” Grant said. “We got back to the drawing board Thursday and focused on our (next) game.”
The Panthers prepared well and came out on Dec. 4, beating Cal Lutheran by nearly 20 points. Chapman tied their season-high of 93 points in a game and had three players score more than 15 points. Leading all scorers at 21 points was fifth-year business major, Chandler White.
In their last full season (2019-2020), the Panthers also started strong by winning nine of their first 10 games. However, the team saw less consistency after winter break and finished the season winning only three of their last nine games.
After yet another strong start this year, the Panthers are seeking a different outcome this season and hoping to maintain their strength through the holidays.
“We have something special going on, and if we continue to believe in one another, everything will work itself out,” Grant said. “We approach every game the same way, (and) we know if we focus on what we do well and continue to trust in our principles, we have a good shot at winning the game.”