SF Tyler Barber and SG Jaylen Bland each scored 17 pts as #4 College of the Canyons reached the 20-win plateau for just the second time in two decades with a 78-69 win over Glendale in the WSC-South tournament in Santa Clarita.
Canyons (20-7) led most of the way, including the entire second half, to beat Glendale (11-15) for the third time in four tries this season.
The win gives the Cougars 20 wins in a season for the second time since 1991-92. The 2006-07 Cougars, led by the likes of Andre Murray and Gino Riney, were 26-7.
Neither team led by more than five points until PF Temjae Singleton hit a 3-pointer to give COC a 27-19 lead. PG Terrez Scott pushed the lead to nine points at 30-21 with 3:10 left in the first half, and the Cougars led by nine points at 35-26 at the break.
Canyons stretched the lead to double digits - the first time all day anyone led by at least 10 points in any of the three games - when Barber hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to make it 49-39. Another Barber three stretched the margin to 11 points at 54-43. Ctr Dalibor Nonkovic converted a 3-point play off a pass from Bland to make it 70-58 with 2:56 remaining.
Glendale cut the deficit to six points after two 3-pointers by SF Emerson Castaneda that made it 70-64. But Canyons got two free throws each from Bland and Scott to push the lead back to nine points at 74-65. A slam dunk by Ctr Ronald Harris off a pass from SF Antonio Rios made it 76-65 and sealed the win for the Cougars.
Bland finished with 17 pts, 9 rebs and 4 asts. Barber had 17 pts, including 3 threes, on 7-for-12 from the floor. Harris had a double-double with 13 pts and a team-high 11 rebs. Scott had 9 pts and a game-high 6 asts. Nonkovic had a big impact off the bench with 5 pts and 7 rebs, which was particularly important with Singleton and Harris battling foul trouble.
For Glendale, Ctr Gor Plavchyan had game-highs of 20 pts and 13 rebs. SF Nate Bullock had 11 pts, and SG Isaiah Howard had 11 pts, 5 rebs and 5 asts. Castaneda added 11 pts off the bench and PG Robert Henry had 10 pts.
box score
WSC-South Conference Tournament Semifinal
at College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 7 pm
Glendale Vaqueros 69:
11-Robert Henry, PG - 3/10 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 10 pts
24-Alex Bullock, SF - 4/9 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5 pf, 11 pts
30-Isaiah Howard, SG - 3/5 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 pf, 11 pts
33-Mike Johnson, PF - 0/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
45-Gor Plavchyan, C - 8/11 fg, 4/14 ft, 13 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 20 pts
10-Chris Kapooshian, G - 0/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 2 pts
22-Emerson Castaneda, F - 3/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
40-Nick Kahn, F - 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 0
Totals: 21/47 fg (.447), 21/34 ft (.618), 33 reb, 17 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 21 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (6): Castaneda 3, Henry 2, Howard
Technical Fouls: Bullock, Howard, Coach Beauchemin
Fouled Out: Bullock 1:57 left
Turnovers (13): Plavchyan 4, Henry 3, Johnson 3, Howard 2, Kapooshian
Canyons Cougars 78:
5-Jaylen Bland, SG - 5/16 fg, 5/5 ft, 9 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
15-Temjae Singleton, PF - 3/11 fg, 1/1 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 5 pf, 8 pts
25-Ronald Harris, C - 6/10 fg, 1/2 ft, 11 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
30-Terrez Scott, PG - 2/8 fg, 4/6 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
31-Tyler Barber, SF - 7/12 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 17 pts
11-David Horst, F - 2/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
34-Jawhar Purdy, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
44-John Green, C - 3 pf, 0 pts
14-Lionel Poole, F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
21-Dalibor Nonkovic, C - 2/5 fg, 1/1 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 5 pts
24-Antonio Rios, F - 0/2 ft, 1 ast, 0 pts
42-Brian Harris, G - 0 pts
41-Artur Mkrtychyan, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 28/72 fg (.389), 15/21 ft (.714), 47 reb, 21 ast, 5 blk, 8 stl, 24 pf, 78 pts
3-pt fg (7): Barber 3, Bland 2, Singleton, Scott
Technical Fouls: Bland, Singleton
Fouled Out: Singleton 3:52 left
Turnovers (11): Scott 4, R.Harris 2, Purdy 2, Bland, Singleton, Poole
Halftime Score: Canyons 35, Glendale 26
Updated Records: Canyons 20-7, Glendale 11-15
