SF Madison Higgins scored 21 pts, SG Keilan Horton scored 20 and SG William Taylor came off the bench for 18 as Santa Monica maintained a share of 2nd place in the WSC-South with an entertaining 81-75 win over visiting Glendale Saturday afternoon at the SMC Sports Pavilion.
Santa Monica (13-7, 5-3) held a 41-34 lead at halftime thanks largely to Taylor, who scored all 18 of his points in the first half. And the Corsairs held a narrow lead throughout the second half. Glendale (10-13, 2-6) closed the gap to two points in the final seconds, but four free throws by Higgins in the final 26.7 seconds clinched the win for Santa Monica.
Glendale took an early 15-9 lead after a 3-pointer by SF Emerson Castaneda, but Santa Monica rallied quickly, cutting the deficit to a point after Taylor entered the game and made a long 2-point jumper and a 3-point basket. A 3-pointer by Higgins tied the score at 22 with 5:59 left in the first half.
Santa Monica took a 25-22 lead moments later when A steal by SG DeAndre Henderson led to a pass from Taylor to PF David Nwaba, who threw down a slam dunk and was fouled. His good free throw gave SMC a 25-22 lead with 5:49 left in the half.
Glendale rallied with a 7-0 spurt, starting with a 3-pointer by PG Chris Kapooshian, and the Vaqueros took a 27-25 lead on a basket by Ctr Gor Plavchyan. PF Nick Kahn scored on a putback of his own miss - actually a 3rd chance putback after two of his own misses - to make it 29-25.
Santa Monica answered with a 16-3 run to take the lead, and would hold an advantage the rest of the game. Nwaba hit a jumper, was fouled and converted another 3-point play to make it 31-29 with 3:39 left in the half, and Higgins made a three-point basket to make it 34-29. Taylor was fouled attempting a 3-point shot and made all three free throws with 56.6 seconds left in the half to make it 39-32. Then Taylor scored on an outlet pass from Nwaba to make it 41-32. Castaneda scored for Glendale on a one-handed bank shot to cut the margin to seven points at the half.
When the second half started, Santa Monica got a baseline jumper from Higgins about 30 seconds in to stretch its lead back to nine points, and pushed the margin to ten after a 3-pointer by PG Adam Griffin and two free throws by Horton that made it 51-41 with 15:39 left. The Corsairs also led by ten points at 55-45 and 57-47, but never stretched its advantage any further.
Glendale cut into the deficit several times, getting within three points at 57-54 and within six points a couple of times as the clock wound down. Santa Monica pushed its lead back to nine points after two free throws by Ctr J'Ryon Moss and one free throw by Griffin that made it 75-66 with 47.1 seconds to play.
But Glendale kept battling, and a 3-pointer by Castaneda got the Vaqueros within six points at 75-69 with 39.6 seconds left. After two free throws by Horton for Santa Monica, Glendale SG Mark Hicks was fouled trying a 3-point shot, and made all three free throws with 32.6 seconds left to make it 77-72. Then Castaneda tapped away the inbounds pass to Kapooshian, who passed to PG Robert Henry for a 3-pointer to make it 77-75 with 28.4 seconds left.
That, however, would be as close as Glendale would get. The Vaqueros were forced to foul, and Hicks sent Higgins to the line with 26.7 seconds remaining. Hicks fouled out on the play, and Higgins made both free throws to make it 79-75. After a missed shot by Castaneda, Higgins got the rebound and was fouled with 9.9 seconds left. He made two more free throws to make it 81-75 and clinch the win for Santa Monica.
Higgins finished with a game-high 21 pts, on 7-for-11 from the floor, and that included 3 three-pointers and the four game-clinching free throws. Horton had 20 pts, 15 of those in the second half. Taylor finished with 18 pts, all in the first half, including 3 threes. Nwaba added 14 pts plus team-highs of 9 rebs and 6 asts, a game-high 4 blocked shots and 2 steals.
For Glendale, PF Mike Johnson came off the bench but had a team-high 20 pts and added 12 rebs to complete the double-double. Plavchyan also had a double-double with 14 pts and a game-high 14 rebs. Henry had a strong game with 13 pts, including 3 threes, plus a game-high 7 asts and 2 steals. Castaneda had 11 pts, including 3 threes, and Hicks chipped in with 10 pts.
The win improves Santa Monica's record to 5-3 in WSC-South play, tying the Corsairs with defending division champ Citrus for second place, three games behind conference frontrunner Canyons.
box score
Saturday, February 9, 2013 - 1 pm
at the SMC Sports Pavilion
WSC-South
Glendale Vaqueros 75:
11-Robert Henry, PG - 5/14 fg, 1 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 13 pts
20-Mark Hicks, SG - 2/4 fg, 6/7 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 10 pts
30-Isaiah Howard, SF - 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 0 pts
40-Nick Kahn, PF - 2/4 fg, 6 reb, 1 pf, 4 pts
45-Gor Plavchyan, C - 7/19 fg, 14 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 14 pts
33-Mike Johnson, F - 9/15 fg, 2/3 ft, 12 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 20 pts
22-Emerson Castaneda, F - 4/13 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
10-Chris Kapooshian, G - 1/2 fg, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 30/71 fg (.423), 8/12 ft (.667), 47 reb, 16 ast, 1 blk, 6 stl, 24 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (7): Henry 3, Castaneda 3, Kapooshian
Fouled Out: Hicks 26.7 seconds left, Plavchyan 9.9 seconds left
Turnovers (25): Howard 8, Henry 4, Castaneda 4, Plavchyan 3, Johnson 3, Kuhn 2, Hicks
Santa Monica Corsairs 81:
1-Madison Higgins, SF - 7/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 21 pts
5-Adam Griffin, PG - 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
10-Keilan Horton, SG - 5/9 fg, 9/11 ft, 2 ast, 4 pf, 20 pts
11-David Nwaba, PF - 4/17 fg, 6/6 ft, 9 reb, 6 ast, 4 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 14 pts
21-J'Ryon Moss, C - 1/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl, 5 pf, 4 pts
35-Henry Anyanwu, C - 0/1 fg, 4 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
12-Winfred Clark, G - 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
0-DeAndre Henderson, G - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 0 pts
14-William Taylor, G - 6/10 fg, 3/3 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 18 pts
4-Michael Ratliff, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 24/56 fg (.429), 25/28 ft (.893), 30 reb, 15 ast, 5 blk, 10 stl, 17 pf, 81 pts
3-pt fg (8): Higgins 3, Taylor 3, Griffin, Horton
Fouled Out: Moss 32.6 seconds left
Turnovers (17): Nwaba 6, Horton 4, Henderson 3, Griffin, Anyanwu, Clark, team
Halftime Score: Santa Monica 41, Glendale 34
Updated Records: Santa Monica 13-7 overall, 5-3 in WSC-S; Glendale 10-13, 2-6 in WSC-S
Santa Monica led the entire 2nd half but never by more than 10 points.
Higgins made 4 FTs in the final 26.7 seconds to clinch the win for Santa Monica.
