PF Temjae Singleton scored 24 pts, Ctr Ronald Harris scored 18 and SG Jaylen Bland scored 17 for #9 Canyons, which grinded out an 84-81 win over visiting Bakersfield in a showdown for first place in the WSC-South Wednesday night in Santa Clarita.
It was a scrambly, foul-filled game with the teams combining for 72 free throw attempts (compared with 105 total field goal attempts). The lead went back and forth for much of the night, with the host Cougars finally pulling into the lead with a 10-2 run and holding off the pesky Renegades down the stretch.
Early on, Canyons (13-6, 3-0) romped out to a 16-5 lead, with two three-pointers from SF Tyler Barber and one from Bland. A basket by Harris off a pass from PG Terrez Scott made it 16-5 just over five minutes into the game.
But the rest of the contest would be a struggle for both squads. Bakersfield (8-9, 2-1) rallied to cut the deficit to three points at 19-16 midway through the first half, and neither team would lead by more than seven points the rest of the game.
PG T.J. Jackson brought Bakersfield even with a 3-pointer that made it 26-26 with just under 8 minutes left in the first half. Then Ctr Gary Lux blocked a shot at the rim, grabbed the rebound and threw an outlet pass to SG R'mand Harp, who dunked to give the Renegades their first lead of the night at 28-26.
Bakersfield increased its lead to five points when Harp hit a 3-pointer to make it 33-28. And Jackson made two free throws with 1:39 left in the half to give Bakersfield what would be its largest lead of the game at 40-33.
Canyons cut the deficit to five points at 41-36 at the break, and tied the score at 52 just 4:29 into the seocnd half on a 3-point play by Singleton off a pass from Barber. Then Singleton hit a short jumper to give the Cougars a 56-54 lead. The advantage went back and forth the next several minutes, with Bakerfield holding a 67-65 edge after SF Van Holloway hit a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass with 7:56 remaining.
Canyons went back into the lead with a 3-point play by Harris exactly one minute later, and that started the 10-2 run. Bland scored on a baseline drive to make it 70-67. A 3-pointer by SF David Horst pushed the Cougar advantage to four points at 73-69 with 4:30 left. Then Scott hit a short jumper to make it 75-69 with 3:45 to play.
Bakersfield kept battling, but Canyons held onto a slim lead the rest of the way. The Renegades got within thrree points when SF Duncan Schramm made two free throws with 1:46 left to make it 80-77. PG Jawhar Purdy made one of two free throws for Canyons with 1:18 left to make it 81-77. Bakersfield got the ball back and Holloway, who had already made three 3-pointers in the game, attempted another. But his shot missed, and Bland got the rebound for the Cougars. He was fouled with 43 seconds left and made one of two free throws to make it 81-77.
Bakersfield got a basket from Ctr Damian Robinson off a pass from Holloway with 16 seconds left to make it 82-79. Bland made two free throws for Canyons with 13 seconds left to make it 84-79. Robinson scored on a putback of a Holloway miss with 1 second left to make it 84-81. After a timeout, Canyons inbounded the ball successfully and the final horn sounded.
Singleton finished with a game-high 24 pts on 7-for-9 from the field, but fouled out with 3:05 left. Harris had the game's only double-double with 18 pts and a game-high 11 rebs. Bland had 17 pts and 6 asts, and Barber chipped in with 11 pts. Scott had 4 pts and a game-high 10 asts.
For Bakersfield, five players scored in double figures. PF Conroy Lester had a team-high 13 pts. Jackson came off the bench for 12 pts, while Harp and Schramm each came off the bench for 11 pts. Robinson had 10 pts and a team-high 5 rebs despite missing most of the first half with foul trouble.
The win gives Canyons a perfect 3-0 record in WSC-South play, but that lead is by the slimmest of margins and includes an overtime win over defending division champ Citrus. And both that victory last Saturday and this 3-point win over second-place Bakersfield tonight came on the Cougars' home floor.
box score
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 5 pm
at College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
WSC-South
Bakersfield Renegades 81:
5-Van Holloway, SF - 3/8 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 9 pts
10-Ed Daniels, SG - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 pts
20-Chad Clark, PG - 4/5 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 4 pts
34-Conroy Lester, PF - 6/12 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 5 pf, 13 pts
40-Damian Robinson, C - 3/4 fg, 4/5 ft, 3 reb, 1 blk, 4 pf, 10 pts
42-Taevawne Morrison, C - 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 blk, 5 pf, 0 pts
3-Gerald Bates, G - 2/3 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 ast, 2 stl, 5 pts
11-R'mand Harp, G - 4/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 ast, 1 pf, 11 pts
21-Duncan Schramm, F - 3/9 fg, 5/7 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 5 pf, 11 pts
22-Jalen Walker, F - 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
30-Gary Lux, C - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 2 pts
1-T.J. Jackson, G - 3/5 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 26/54 fg (.481), 22/28 ft (.786), 31 reb, 17 ast, 5 blk, 5 stl, 28 pf, 81 pts
3-pt fg (7): Holloway 3, Jackson 2, Lester, Harp
Technical Foul: Robinson (indirect - hanging on rim)
Fouled Out: Morrison 6:56 left, Lester 43 seconds left, Schramm 29 seconds left
Turnovers (16): Lester 4, Daniels 3, Clark 2, Schramm 2, Holloway, Robinson, Harp, Walker, Lux
Canyons Cougars 84:
5-Jaylen Bland, SG - 5/12 fg, 5/8 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 3 pf, 17 pts
15-Temjae Singleton, PF - 7/9 fg, 7/12 ft, 1 reb, 5 pf, 24 pts
25-Ronald Harris, C - 6/13 fg, 6/14 ft, 11 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 18 pts
30-Terrez Scott, PG - 1/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 10 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
31-Tyler Barber, SF - 3/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
11-David Horst, F - 3/5 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
34-Jawhar Purdy, G - 0/1 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 pf, 3 pts
44-John Green, C - 2 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
14-Lionel Poole, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
24-Antonio Rios, F - 0 pts
21-Dalibor Nonkovic, C - 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 25/51 fg (.490), 25/44 ft (.568), 33 reb, 20 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl, 21 pf, 84 pts
3-pt fg (9) Singleton 3, Barber 3, Bland 2, Horst
Technnical Foul: Singleton
Fouled Out: Singleton 3:05 left
Turnovers (10): Barber 3, Singleton, Harris, Scott, Horst, Green, Poole, Rios
Halftime Score: Bakersfield 41, Canyons 36
Updated Records: Canyons (#9-South, #17-Calif) 13-6 overall, 3-0 in WSC-South; Bakersfield 8-9 overall, 2-1 in WSC-South
Canyons led 16-5 early. Bakersfield took a 28-26 lead and led by 7 at 40-33.
Bakersfield led 67-65 with 7:56 left. Canyons went on a 10-2 run to lead, 75-69 with 3:45 left.
Canyons led the rest of the way. Bland made 3 of 4 FTs in the last 43 seconds to help seal the win.
