Canyons Rebounds for 90-81 Conference Win Over AVC

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons built a double-digit lead early in the game and controlled the tempo down the stretch, as the Cougars rebounded for a 90-81 conference win over visiting Antelope Valley College on Saturday. 

Canyons (9-5, 1-1) reached the 90-point plateau for the fourth time this season which was vital in staving off an AVC (8-7, 1-1) team output that saw four starters reach double-digit point totals.

The Cougars received 24 points from freshman Andrew Henderson who led all scorers. However, it was the Canyons bench, chipping in with 39 points, which proved to be the big difference maker. 

COC reserves Jimmy Galgano (15 points, five rebounds) and Dylan Griffin (11 points) led the bench scoring, while Corwin Smith tied for a game-high nine rebounds to go with his eight points in 22 minutes off the bench. 

Henderson's nine rebounds helped lead to a 35-26 differential in the Cougars' favor in the battle of the boards. 

Dillon Barrientos had another strong all-around game for Canyons with 12 points, five assists and two steals. The freshman scored nine points in the second half.

Henderson's hot hand also continued after the break with the freshman scoring 12 points in 13 second-half minutes.

AVC was led by Jonathan Daniels with 22 points and five assists. Virgil Mahoney was next with 18 and Da'Jour Lewis ended his night with 16 points. Emani Scott also reached double digits with 10 points for the Marauders' side.

Canyons shot 53.4 percent from the field including better than 46 percent from three-point territory. 

Galgano led the long-range attack with a 3-of-5 performance, while Henderson was 2-of-4 from behind the arc.

The 90 points scored by COC represented the fourth-highest point total this season and comes with the Cougars just one game removed from a three-week layoff due to the holiday schedule and various postponements brought about by COVID-19 protocols.

The Cougars were an 81-73 road loser at Glendale College on Wednesday in what proved to be the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division opener. COC had originally been scheduled to host AVC on Jan. 5 in the conference opener. Saturday's game was a rescheduling of that original contest.

Canyons is now 6-1 on its home court this season with six home games left on the docket.

The Cougars are scheduled to continue conference play at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan.19, at Citrus College. Canyons returns to the Cougar Cage to host West L.A. College at 3 p.m. Saturday. Jan. 22.

All Canyons home games will be live streamed to fans on YouTube via the Cougars Sports Network. Continue to monitor COCathletics.com for livestream links or subscribe to the COC Athletics channel on YouTube.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information