Cougars Have Win Streak End at Irvine Valley Classic

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons competed at the two-day Irvine Valley College Classic tournament, suffering a one-point loss to the host Lasers in Thursday night's opening round before falling to Ventura College on day two.

Canyons (2-2) entered the tourney coming off back-to-back wins vs. Cuyamaca and Oxnard College to win the 'Clash at Canyons' Tip-Off event held Nov. 4-5. The tourney clinching victory was also head coach Howard Fisher's 300th career win.

On Thursday, the Cougars took a two-point lead into halftime vs. Irvine Valley (2-0) before a 64-63 final score saw the Lasers emerge victorious. Canyons was able to get off a last-second shot attempt from Dillon Barrientos, who tied the game with a three-pointer on the Cougars' previous possession, but this time it didn't fall. 

Barrientos finished the game with 28 points on an 11-of-15 shooting night that included a 5-of-7 mark from three-point land. The sophomore was the only Cougar to reach double figures. Jonah El-Farra had five points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Andre Henderson came off the bench with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals. 

The Cougars shot a combined 41 percent from the floor and took the rebounding edge 41-40.

Irvine Valley was led by 22 points and 13 rebounds from Charlie Henderson along with 14 points from Roman Swizek.

Top Performers vs. Irvine Valley

• Dillon Barrientos — 32 mins, 28 pts, 6 rebs, 2 assists, 1 stl, 11-of-15, 5-of-7 three-pt
• Jonah El-Farra — 28 mins, 5 pts, 10 rebs, 3 assists, 2 stls, 1 block
• Jimmy Galgano — 20 mins, 9 pts, 2 rebs, 1 assist 
• Andrew Henderson — 26 mins, 8 pts, 4 rebs, 2 assists, 2 stl, 1 block
• Mason Savery — 17 mins, 5 pts, 5 rebs, 1 assist

In day two action the Cougars were matched against Ventura College (3-2) in a game it dropped by an 86-73 final score.

Canyons was again led by Barrientos with 17 points but also saw three other Cougars reach double-digit point totals.

Starters El-Farrah and Dylan Griffin both finished with 10 points with Henderson scoring 14 points in 15 minutes off the bench.

The Cougars shot just better than 42 percent from the field but were undone by 17 turnovers compared to nine by the Pirates. COC also struggled from downtown going just 3-of-14 on the night. Canyons received a big boost from its reserve unit with 28 points and eight boards.

Ventura saw Adrian McIntyre and Marcus Watson score 21 and 20 points, respectively. The Pirates were better than 51 percent from the field in the second half.

Top Performers vs. Ventura

• Dillon Barrientos —27 mins, 17 pts, 2 rebs, 3 assists
• Jonah El-Farra — 26 mins, 10 pts, 7 rebs, assist, 1 block
• Dylan Griffin — 27 mins, 10 pts, 5 rebs, 2 assists, 2 stl
• Andrew Henderson — 15 mins, 14 pts, 2 rebs,

Upcoming Schedule

Canyons returns to the Cougars Cage at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 to host Santa Barbara City College (1-2). That game will be live streamed to fans free of charge on the Cougars Sports Network.

The Cougars will then travel to Chaffey College for a 3 p.m. tip on Saturday, Nov. 19

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