SF Carlton Spencer scored 3 of his game-high 20 pts in the final 32 seconds to lead host Canyons (18-4, 9-0) to a 4-point win over Citrus (15-11, 4-6) and clinch at least a tie for the WSC-South championship Wednesday night in Valencia.
Spencer's fallaway jumper with 32 seconds left gave COC a 66-65 lead moments after Citrus PF Chris Dean had put the Owls ahead, 65-64, on a pair of free throws. Following a pair of FTs by COC's Andrew Morris that made it 68-65, Citrus had one last chance to tie the game. But Spencer stole the ball, and was fouled going in for the layup. His FT with 4 seconds left made it 69-65 and clinched the win for the Cougars.
It was an evenly-played game throughout, and neither team led by more than 9 points. Citrus held the lead for most of the first half, holding a 33-24 advantage late in the first half before COC rallied to trail by just a point at the break at 35-34. And a three by PG Curtis Dunwoody put the Cougars ahead just over a minute into the second half.
COC threatened to pull away several times in the second half, pushing their lead to 5 on three different occasions. But each time the Owls ralllied to keep the game close, and Citrus finally took the lead on a jumper by Ctr Mark Kelley with 1:37 left that made it 63-62. Canyons responded moments later on a bucket by PF Cedric Davis on a nice feed from Spencer to re-take the lead, but on Citrus' next possession Dean was fouled by COC's Durell Davis, who fouled out on the play. Dean then made both FTs, giving Citrus a 65-64 lead with 54 seconds left.
That set the stage for COC to pull out yet another close win, thanks largely to Spencer. The Cougars are now 18-4 on the season, but none of those wins is by more than 14 points and their average margin of victory is less than 7 points. In the WSC-South, they're 9-0 and all of those wins were by 11 points or less.
Spencer had an excellent all-around game to lead the way. In addition to his 20 pts, he grabbed 7 rebs, dished out a game-high 7 asts and grabbed a game-best 5 steals. PF Durell Davis came off the bench to add 14 pts before fouling out. Ctr Andrew Bruckner had 9 pts, 3 blocks and a game-high 10 rebs.
Dean led Citrus with 18 pts and 7 rebs. Ctr Mark Kelley had a strong game with 11 pts, 6 rebs and 5 asts, playing COC's standout Bruckner to a stalemate in their matchup. SG Larry Monroe Jr. came off the bench to add 12 pts.
In a statistical oddity, Citrus shot exactly 40% (14/35) in the first half, and then did it again in the second half (10/25). Meanwhile, Canyons shot exactly 50% (15/30) in the first half, and nearly duplicated it in the second half (14/27) - one more missed shot and they'd have done it.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 7:45 pm @ COC
Citrus Owls 65:
3-Sam Sikes, SG - 3/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 8 pts
5-David Cuadra, PG - 1/2 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
34-Chris Dean, PF - 6/12 fg, 6/8 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 18 pts
52-Steve Thompson, SF - 3/6 fg, 1/1 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 7 pts
45-Mark Kelley, C - 4/13 fg, 3/4 ft, 6 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 11 pts
25-Jamaal Simmons, F - 2/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 6 pts
15-Larry Monroe Jr., G - 5/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 12 pts
32-Ramsay Jarrar, F - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 24/60 fg (.400), 16/22 ft (.727), 29 reb, 20 ast, 2 blk, 13 stl, 65 pts
3-pt fg (1): Cuadra
Tech Foul: Sikes
Turnovers (16): Cuadra 6, Thompson 4, Dean 2, Monroe 2, Sikes, Simmons
Canyons Cougars 69:
20-Alex Dunwoody, SG - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
22-Curtis Dunwoody, PG - 4/8 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 9 pts
23-Carlton Spencer, SF - 8/14 fg, 3/4 ft, 7 reb, 7 ast, 5 stl, 20 pts
30-Andrew Bruckner, C - 4/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 9 pts
32-Cedric Davis, PF - 2/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 6 pts
33-Durell Davis, F - 7/11 fg, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 14 pts
42-Andrew Morris, F - 2/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 6 pts
21-Kevin Valle, G - 1/2 fg, 1 blk, 2 pts
11-Navid Khajavi, G - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 29/57 fg (.509), 8/12 ft (.667), 38 reb, 17 ast, 4 blk, 10 stl, 69 pts
3-pt fg (3): A.Dunwoody, C.Dunwoody, Spencer
Tech Fouls: D.Davis, Morris
Fouled Out: D.Davis :54 left
Turnovers (23): C.Dunwoody 6, A.Dunwoody 4, Spencer 4, Bruckner 3, D.Davis 3, C.Davis, Morris, Valle
Halftime Score: Citrus 35, Canyons 34
Updated Records: Canyons 18-4, 9-0 in WSC-S; Citrus 15-11, 4-6
