Chesapeake eases past Portsmouth, 64-49

Published 12:00 am Sunday, December 14, 2003

PORTSMOUTH - Calm down. Now, just relaxed.

After playing tight the first half, the Chesapeake Panthers were able to mellow out the second half as they beat the Portsmouth Trojans 64-49 Friday.

Leading by 10 at the half, the Panthers came out and scored 24 points the third quarter en route to their second win in as many outings.

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"We didn't shoot the ball well at all the second quarter. We missed a lot of shots at point-blank range," Panthers coach Norm Persin said. "We relaxed the second half and started to hit those shots."

Daniel Thompson and P.J. Rase scored 19 points each to lead the Panthers. Andy Stapleton was right behind with 18.

Stapleton also held Portsmouth's leading scorer Aaron Smith to just two points.

"Andy Stapleton did a super job. He's been hurt, but now he's better and he's rounding into shape," Persin said.

Justin Nelson had 15 points and Tyler Clifford 11 to pace the Trjans, 2-1.

"Jeremy Miller and Brennan Hall played good games. They didn't score, but they did a nice job on Clifford and rebounding early," Persin said. "Miller has been really solid on the boards for us."

Thompson scored six points in the first quarter and in the second stanza as the Panthers took a 31-21 lead. Chesapeake held a 14-2 rebounding advantage early in the game.

Rase had 8 points and Stapleton and Thompson 7 each as Chesapeake pulled away to 55-36 lead. Nelson scored 7 points.

Andrew Newman had 7 points in the fourth quarter as Portsmouth cut into the lead, but it was much too little too late.

Chesapeake1417249-64

Portsmouth6151513-49

CHESAPEAKE (2-0):

Brennan Hall 1 0 1-2 3, Mike Stapleton 0 0 0, Daniel Thompson 4 3 2-3 19, Justin Porter 1 1 0-0 5, P.J. Rase 5 1 6-6 19, Trent Finley 0 0 0-1 0, Greg Boster 0 0 0-0 0, Andy Stapleton 6 0 6-10 18, Jeremy Miller 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17

5

15-22

64. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.

PORTSMOUTH (2-1):

Taylor Babcock 3 0 0-3 6, Justin Nelson 6 1 0-0 15, Justin Skaggs 0 0 1-2 1, Aaron Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Tyler Clifford 4 0 3-5 11, Mike Purdy 3 0 0-3 6, Andrew Newman 2 0 4-8 8. Totals: 19

1

8-21

49. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.