JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL: RECENT SURGE PUTS COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS IN FIRST PLACE.Byline: IVAN OROZCO O·roz·co , José Clemente 1883-1949. Mexican painter noted for his frescoes dealing with political and social themes. Noun 1. Staff Writer The College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. men's basketball team is in first place in the Western State Conference's South Division standings. But getting there hasn't has·n't Contraction of has not. hasn't has not hasn't have been easy for coach Howard Fisher's team. The Cougars (19-5, 5-0) have beaten their past five opponents -- all conference foes -- by a six-point average, including a 98-94 win Saturday over Bakersfield, then ranked No. 1 in the state, that snapped the Renegades' 21-game win streak and put COC See chip on chip. in first place. ``I think we've grown together and have found out what it takes to win as a team,'' Fisher said. ``Our league has very competitive teams and they play hard for 40 minutes. I think that's why we've had close games lately.'' Part of the Cougars' success has come from playing solid defense. They held Bakersfield to 37-percent shooting from the field, including 9 of 25 from 3-point range. Canyons has also become adept at spreading the ball on offense. ``We've adapted to our style of play, keeping the ball moving from full- court press defenses,'' Fisher said. ``I think it's always good as a coach to see a team grow as a unit the way we've started to do.'' Sophomore Andre Murray Murray, river, Australia Murray, principal river of Australia, 1,609 mi (2,589 km) long, rising in the Australian Alps, SE New South Wales, and flowing westward to form the New South Wales–Victoria boundary. stands out for the Cougars. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound guard is averaging 15.4 points per game. Against Bakersfield, he made 3 of 4 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, four assists and five rebounds. ``(Murray) really stepped up his game lately, and that has served as motivation for the rest of the team,'' Fisher said. Dwayne Jones Dwayne Jones (born June 9 1983, in Morgantown, West Virginia) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. On January 26, 2006, Jones was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics in a trade also involving higher profile has also given the Cougars a spark spark, in electricity: see arc. (language) SPARK - An annotated subset of Ada supported by tools supplied by Praxis Critical Systems (originally by PVL). http://sparkada.com. off the bench. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound sophomore is averaging 14.1points per game and scored 26 points against Bakersfield. Murray, Jones and the rest of the Cougars will try to keep their five- game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" going as they take on rival L.A. Valley tonight at 5:30. Valley is 8-15 overall and 2-3 in conference play and has lost three in a row. Tonight's game will end the first half of conference play for the Cougars. The second half begins next Wednesday with a game at Glendale. ``I think we need to come in and play each individual game and not look past any opponent,'' Fisher said. ``Honestly, we're just trying to take care of what we do and keep executing on both ends of the court.'' ivan.orozco@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 |
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