Junior College BASKETBALL : Santa Monica’s Defense Puts a Halt to Pierce, 80-66

With a stingy defense that forced 23 turnovers, Santa Monica College easily rolled to an 80-66 Metro Conference win over Pierce College Wednesday night at Santa Monica.

The game was tight in the first half as the teams were tied, 35-35, at the half. The Brahmas, 0-3, 7-11 overall, out-rebounded the Corsairs, 12-9, in the half but turned the ball over nine times to Santa Monica’s four.

The Corsairs took control of the game seven minutes into the second half, forcing nine Brahama turnovers to take a 54-45 lead. In five minutes Santa Monica out-scored Pierce, 20-5.

Tim Preston led Santa Monica with 18 points while Don Dorsey added 17 and eight rebounds. Mike Bragg added 15 points for the Corsairs (2-1, 9-8 overall). Mike Torres and Kelly Huston led Pierce with 17 points. Roosevelt Faulkner added 12 points. Canyons 74, LA Trade Tech 73 College of the Canyons overcame two missed one-and-one free-throw opportunities by Deron White which went in and came back out during the final seconds of overtime in the Mountain Valley Conference opener for both teams.

Canyons, which improved its record to 13-4, came into the game ranked No. 6 in the CCSID Southland poll and No. 9 in the state while Trade Tech was ranked No. 7 in the Southland. The Beavers fell to 10-6.

Forwards Pete Coeler and Don White led Canyons with 20 points, followed by Karl Tompkins with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Deron White had nine assists. Pitts was the leader for Trade Tech with 23, followed by Terrell Johnson with 19 and Gilmore with 17.

Glendale 99, Chaffey 85 Freshman John Hoffman made 14 of 19 field goals to score a game-high 30 points to lead Glendale to an Inland Valley Conference win at Chaffey.

The Vaqueros, now 8-9 overall, improved their conference record to 5-1 and moved into the conference lead as Riverside and Rio Hondo both lost.

Toros Yetenekian added 19 points and 13 rebounds for Glendale. Todd Lane led Chaffey with 20 points and 10 rebounds.