ORANGE, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team fell to Chapman University 81-73 on Monday evening. Joseph Espy led the team with his second straight double double, dropping 15 points with 11 boards while Hunter Kennedy and Leo Wagner both turned in 14 points. The Banana Slugs are now 5-6 on the year and will be back in action on Dec. 17 for a road contest against Pomona-Pitzer at 2:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
UC Santa Cruz struck first with a layup from Caden Breznikar but Chapman quickly surged to an 11-2 lead just under six minutes into the contest. The Banana Slugs struggled to gain their footing as the Panthers extended their lead to 14-4 and later 21-8, keeping UCSC trailing by double digits. Chapman used a 12-6 run to extend their lead to 19 points at 33-14 but buckets from Aidan Carleson, Hunter Kennedy, Joseph Espy, and Leo Wagner helped close the gap to 13 points at 40-27 heading into halftime.
 
The Slugs got straight to work out of the halftime break as Breznikar, Elijah Brookes, Wagner, and Thomas Conley worked to close the gap to five points at 45-40 with 13:32 to play. Just under a minute later, Jaden Gamez hit back to back shots from deep, putting UC Santa Cruz out in front 46-45 for their first lead since the game's opening bucket. The lead was short lived as Chapman used a 7-0 run to go up 52-46 before extending their lead to 15 points at 67-52 with 5:32 on the clock. UC Santa Cruz made another push, closing the gap to 69-65 following a 13-2 run with points from Breznikar, Kennedy, Wagner, Espy, and Gamez. From there the Slugs continued to battle, closing the gap to three points, trailing 74-71 with 1:42 to play. Chapman managed to sneak away down the stretch, outscoring UCSC 7-2 in the final minute and 19 seconds of action, handing UCSC the 81-73 loss.