SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - The College of the Canyons men's basketball team defeated Glendale College, 78-69 on Thursday night at the Cougar Cage in the opening round game of the Western State Conference Tournament.
Sophomore guard Jaylen Bland led the way with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
With eight minutes left to go in the first half, COC trailed 19-17, but then went on a 13-2 run and were able to maintain control of the game from that point on.
The Cougars outrebounded Glendale 16-5 on the offensive glass and this led to 10 second chance points.
Sophomore forward Ron Harris had 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while sophomore forward Tyler Barber scored 17 points.
COC then advanced to the championship game of the WSC tournament, as they took on Citrus College on Friday night. The Cougars lost 77-71 to the Fighting Owls in what was a back and forth battle.
The game was neck and neck from the start with two lead changes and six first half ties in the first eight minutes. COC had 17 turnovers, while Citrus only had 10 and the Owls outscored the Cougars 34-24 in the paint. COC went 0-11 from the three-point line and shot 41.4 percent from the field in the second half.
Canyons trailed 73-71 with 1:35 left to go in the game, but the Fighting Owls hit a 3-pointer and that gave Citrus the lead.
Both games did not count towards the conference record, but did count towards overall records.
COC finished the season with a 20-8 record and will await playoff seeding's on Monday afternoon.
Citrus