Cougars Notch Big Road Win at West L.A.

CULVER CITY, Calif. — Playing in its final road game of the season, College of the Canyons came away with an 81-74 must-win victory over conference leader West L.A. College on Tuesday night.

The Cougars, winners in three of the last four contests, received another stellar performance from freshman Zach Phipps who finished with a game-high 23 points on a 7-of-13 shooting night.

Sophomore Anthony Simone recorded a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Denzel Nwanguma added 16 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals across 39 minutes of play. Jah-Kez Moore led the reserves with 12 points and eight rebounds.

COC shot a combined 42.4 percent from the field but won the game at the foul line, converting on 23-of-27 attempts compared to 11-of-17 from the Wildcats. Nwanguma was 9-of-11 from the charity stripe while Simone went a perfect 8-of-8 to give the Cougars a big boost.

West L.A. had four players score in double figures but could not keep pace with the Cougars down the stretch. The two teams had previously played to a 33-33 tie heading into halftime. But the trio of Phipps, Nwanguma and Simone combined to score 38 of the team's 48 second-half points. 

With just one game remaining in the regular season schedule, Canyons (13-14, 4-3) sits two games behind West L.A. (20-8, 6-2) in the Western State Conference (WSC), South standings, but remains eligible for an at-large playoff spot.

The Cougars return to action in the regular season finale vs. L.A. Pierce on Friday, Feb.22, in the Cougar Cage. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

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.