State Player of the Year candidate Ctr Bryant Crowder had 31 pts and 16 rebs, and PG Eric Bell dished out an astonishing 16 asts as #14 Santa Monica (5-1) outraced LA Southwest (2-3), 105-97, Tuesday night at Santa Monica College.
Southwest started just one player - Ctr Chris Clayton - taller than six feet. But the Cougars pressed on defense and pushed the pace on offense, making for a most entertaining game. And it was also close, tied at 95 with 2:33 left before the Corsairs finally pulled away, finishing the game with a 10-2 run.
Both teams started well, with Southwest making 4 of its first 5 shots of the game and Santa Monica making its first 4 shots of the game, all in the first two minutes. Two of Southwest's shots were 3-pointers, giving the Cougars a 10-8 advantage. And another 3-pointer, this one by SF Marsellus Gray, made it 13-8.
Santa Monica scored the game's next 9 points to take a 17-13 lead after a putback basket by Ctr Tyrell Chandler. The lead went back and forth the rest of the half, with Southwest building a 31-24 lead at one point and Santa Monica holding a 44-39 lead late in the half. Southwest tied the game at 49 with 10 seconds left before SG Rodney Hudson scored on a one-hander at the buzzer to give Santa Monica a 51-49 halftime lead.
Santa Monica started the second half on a 19-6 run to build a 70-55 lead after a basket by Chandler just less than six minutes into the half. But Southwest rallied, cutting the margin to four points at 74-70 after a 3-pointer by SG Casey Jones with more than half the second half left to play. Santa Monica pushed the lead back to 10 at 80-70 after a jumper by Hudson, but that would be the last time the Corsairs would hold a double-digit lead.
Southwest continued to chip away at the lead, finally tying the game 90-90 on a 3-pointer by PG Bryce Layne with 4:28 left in the game. Southwest never again took the lead, however, and suffered a key blow when Gray fouled out with 2:38 remaining. A free throw by Layne tied the game one last time at 95 with 2:33 left.
Finally, Santa Monica pulled into the lead after that and held it. Crowder scored on a putback of his own miss to make it 97-95. Then Hudson scored on a fast break, with Bell picking up his 16th and final assist of the night on the play. Then Crowder again scored on a putback to moake it 101-95. Baskets by Hudson and Crowder in the final minute finished out the scoring and secured the win for Santa Monica.
For Santa Monica, Crowder went 13-for-19 from the floor for his game-high 31 pts, and his 16 rebs was easily the game-high. Bell's 16 asts were twice as many as anyone else in the game, and tied for the most in any game ever covered by jchoops.com. PG David Doubley of Skyline, who was later the Big West Player of the Year at University of the Pacific, had 16 dimes against Cosumnes River in a 118-72 win in 2001.
Also for the Corsairs, Hudson added 22 pts and PG Charlie Oriel came off the bench for 11 pts, 5 asts and 3 steals. Two more key contributors for Santa Monica were SF Lonnie Biggs and PF Matt Sinclair, who had 9 pts and 8 pts, respectively, in the first half. For the game, the Corsairs shot 53% from the floor and held a 48-33 rebounding advantage.
For Southwest, Clayton had a double-double with 23 pts and 10 rebs, and Gray also had 23 pts before fouling out late. Layne had 15 pts, 8 asts and 3 steals. Clark had 10 pts despite being 11 inches shorter than the man he was usually matched up against, the 6-10 Crowder.
box score
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 – 7 pm
at Santa Monica College
LA Southwest Cougars 97:
10-Dontae Clark, PF – 5/7 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 pf, 10 pts
12-Bryce Layne, PG – 6/15 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 15 pts
22-Casey Jones, SG – 3/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
23-Marsellus Gray, SF – 9/13 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 23 pts
42-Chris Clayton, C – 6/15 fg, 11/12 ft, 10 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 23 pts
3-Adrian Session, C – 4/7 fg, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
2-Blake Beason, G – 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
1-Chevoirye Wade, F – 1/5 f,g 1 pf, 2 pts
32-Steve Pickens, F – 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pt
21-Alan Mitchell, F – 0/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 pts
30-Deshawn Dean, F – 0 pts
31-Brandon Towns, F – 1 pf, 0 pts
33-Barris Oden, C – 1 reb, 1 blk, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 36/78 fg (.462), 18/21 ft (.857), 33 reb, 25 ast, 4 blk, 12 stl, 22 pf, 97 pts
3-pt fg (7): Gray 3, Layne 2, Jones 2
Fouled Out: Gray 2:38 left
Turnovers (20): Clark 5, Beason 5, Layne 3, Jones 2, Clayton 2, Gray, Session, Pickens
Santa Monica Corsairs 105:
5-Rodney Hudson, SG – 9/15 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 22 pts
11-Bryant Crowder, C – 13/19 fg, 5/7 ft, 16 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 31 pts
23-DeShawn Stephens, PF – 2/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 4 blk, 1 stl, 5 pts
32-Eric Bell, PG – 3/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 16 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
33-Kris Mehdipour, SF – 0/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 1 pt
12-Charlie Oriel, G – 2/4 fg, 5/6 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
42-Matt Sinclair, F – 3/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
15-Rue Critchfield, F – 1/3 fg, 1 stl, 2 pts
34-Tyrell Chandler, C – 3/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 6 pts
14-Johnell Young, F – 0/1 fg,1 pf, 0 pts
21-Lonnie Biggs, F – 3/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 9 pts
35-Pat McCauley, C – 1/3 fg, 2 pts
3-Justin Barnwell, G – 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 40/75 fg (.533), 20/27 ft (.741), 48 reb, 30 ast, 6 blk, 12 stl, 20 pf, 105 pts
3-pt fg (5): Oriel 2, Biggs 2, Hudson
Turnovers (24): Bell 6, Crowder 5, Hudson 4, Oriel 4, Stephens, Mehdipour, Sinclair, Biggs, Barnwell
Halftime Score: Santa Monica 51, LA Southwest 49
Updated Records: Santa Monica (#14-South) 5-1, LA Southwest 2-3
