SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - The College of the Canyons men's basketball team opened its season on Friday at the two-day Clash at Canyons Tournament and won the four-team tournament.
COC opened the tournament with an 82-51 victory over Santa Barbara City College, in a game that COC never trailed. The Cougars opened the match up with a 13-0 run before Santa Barbara was able to put up its first points at the 14:23 mark of the second half. Thirty seconds later, the Vaqueros scored again to cut it to 14, but that would be as close as they would get.
Jaylen Bland led three COC players in double figures with 17 points and two blocks in just 16 minutes of play. Ron Harris added 13 points on a 5-for-7 shooting night and Temjae Singleton chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.
In the second game, Canyons saw a 21-point performance from Bland, while three other starters posted double-digit points, and the Cougars beat the Huskies 69-60.
Canyons held the lead until the 2:14 mark of the first quarter, when they allowed East Los Angeles to tie the game up at 30-30, but a 4-0 run to end the half, gave COC the four-point advantage going into the locker room.
The Huskies would make a final surge with a minute left in the game as they trailed the Cougars 61-60, but COC shot 6-of-6 from the free throw line and won the game.
Tyler Barber had 16 points and Singleton had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
COC will travel to Irvine Valley on Thursday, Nov. 15 for the San Juan Hills Classic.
Santa Barbara
East Los Angeles