Cougars Win Third Straight 79-69 Over Santa Monica

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

Freshman Dwayne Boston Jr. scored a game-high 21 points with a late surge that helped push College of the Canyons past visiting Santa Monica 79-69 to win its third straight conference contest Saturday night at the Cougar Cage.

Canyons (13-7, 4-2) carried the momentum from Wednesday's lopsided victory over No. 18 West L.A. into the weekend, and has now emerged victorious in four of its last five games.

Boston's performance included 14 points in the second half on a 5-of-6 shooting mark for the period. He also added six rebounds and a pair of steals in the game. The 21 points matched his season high, which he has now reached on three occasions.

Freshmen Julius Washington and Thomas Pickens both finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Pickens added four assists to trail only Donovan Cornelius at five for the team lead. Craig Irons led the Cougars with nine rebounds alongside eight points. 

Santa Monica (4-16, 1-5) tested the Cougars for portions of the game despite trailing by as many as 12 points midway through the opening half. The Corsairs drew to within a bucket with two minutes to play in the half before the halftime buzzer sounded at a 36-32 COC advantage.

SMC was led by Jerrell McCready's 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but received a boost from its reserve unit which produced 32 points in the game. As a team, the Corsairs shot just 36.5 percent from the floor.

Despite that number Santa Monica briefly retook the lead at 41-40 near the 17:30 mark to set the tone for a back-and-forth affair that lasted the majority of the period. SMC tied the game at 66-66 with just over five minutes to play, but following a successful jump shot by Boston on the next possession trailed the rest of the way.

Washington and Pickens joined Boston with hot hands in the second half as Washington scored 10 points down the stretch and Pickens added seven more during the latter stages of the game.

The Cougars currently sit third in the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division, two games back of leader Citrus College (19-1, 6-0).

Canyons is on the road to take on Bakersfield College at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28. The game vs. the Renegades will conclude the opening round of conference play, leaving seven regular season games on the docket. 

COC then returns home to Lee Smelser Court on Saturday, Jan. 31, to host Antelope Valley College at 3 p.m. That contest will be broadcast to fans free of charge via YouTube on the Cougars Sports Network. 

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 X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Robert Hanashiro/COC Sports Information