Chapman Brings Skids to a Halt : Basketball: Panthers’ 60-50 victory over Cal State Los Angeles ends their conference, season losing streaks.

ORANGE — Chapman stopped two frustrating streaks Friday by defeating Cal State Los Angeles, 60-50, in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s basketball game at Hutton Center.

The Panthers (6-9, 1-2 in the CCAA) hadn’t won a conference game since last February--an eight-game stretch--but they led Los Angeles virtually all the way and also ended a five-game losing streak.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for Los Angeles (6-10, 0-3), which defeated the Panthers, 67-62, in the Grand Canyon tournament in December.

Despite a roster that now includes only nine players, Chapman has shown signs of life in its three conference games. But before Friday, those signs pointed to dead ends.

The Panthers led at halftime but then folded in each of their two conference losses last weekend.

That scenario seemed to be setting up again when Los Angeles pulled within three and five points of Chapman in the second half. But each time, the Panthers responded with a run.

The first--a 8-3 burst--gave them a 43-35 lead with 10 minutes 30 seconds remaining. The second--a 9-0 burst finished by Mike Vaughn’s three-point play--gave the Panthers a 57-43 lead with 2:52 remaining.

Chapman started out hot, making eight of its first 12 and 13 of its first 20 shots to take a 27-12 lead with 7:52 left in the first half. But the Panthers went almost seven minutes without scoring another point, and Los Angeles closed within six points at the half.

Rog Middleton scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the first half and pulled down 13 rebounds. Los Angeles’ switch to a zone defense limited Middleton to two shots in the second half.

Brian Kenney and Alan Schlines each scored 10 points for the Panthers.