No. 23 Canyons Has Postseason Run Halted at No. 10 San Bernardino
By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director
SAN BERNARDINO — No. 23 College of the Canyons had its postseason run come to an end in a 76-60 road loss to No. 10 San Bernardino Valley College in Wednesday's opening round 3C2A SoCal Regional playoff game.
Canyons (16-13) was playing in the postseason for the first time since the 2017-18 season, drawing a matchup vs. an SBVC (24-5) squad that entered Wednesday's contest as winners of 16 straight.
The Wolverines excelled with a deep rotation that featured 43 points from its reserve unit including a game-high 18 points from sophomore forward Channing Shelton, who erupted for 12 in the second half.
The Cougars were paced by its starting five, which included four players finishing in double figures. COC freshman Julius Washington scored 14 points alongside six rebounds and four assists to lead his side.
Dwayne Boston Jr., who was named All-Western State Conference (WSC) First-Team earlier in the week, tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, adding 13 points and three assists.
Freshman Craig Irons, an All-WSC Honorable Mention selection, ended the game with 12 points on a 6-of-8 shooting night with seven rebounds. Thomas Pickens also added 10 points in the game.
Canyons stayed within a possession of the Wolverines for most of the first half, before SBVC took a slim 34-29 lead into the break. The Cougars committed 10 turnovers in the opening session and finished with 20 in the game. COC also lost the rebounding battle 44-36.
San Bernardino freshman forward Duante Murray finished with a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 16 points and five assists. His eight points down the stretch helped the Wolverines pull away in the late stages of the game.
Canyons cut the SBVC lead to seven points with roughly 10 mins to play but never got any closer as the Wolverines managed to shoot 50 percent from the floor in the second half.
San Bernardino will move on to face No. 7 Mt. San Antonio College (24-4) on Saturday, Feb. 28.
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.
