Fowler Leads Glendale to Overtime Win

Reports differ as to what Glendale College Coach Brian Beauchemin did at halftime of his team’s game Wednesday night against College of the Canyons.

Canyons Coach Lee Smelser told his team at halftime that Beauchemin would “rattle some cages.”

Glendale center Gary Fowler said, “I don’t think he wrote anything on the board. He was just screaming.”

Beauchemin described himself as merely “very irritated.”

Whatever he did, it worked. Glendale (14-7, 2-1 in Western State Conference play), the team that seems to get ahead by falling behind, overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to snatch a 91-88 conference victory in overtime at home.

“It’s good to pull that one out,” Beauchemin said. “We’re a good comeback team.”

At halftime, Beauchemin made it clear that he wanted to get the ball inside more against the smaller Canyons team, and Fowler responded by scoring 26 of his game-high 28 points in the second half.

Fowler drew more fouls in the paint than Audubon.

Fowler was fouled in the act of shooting seven times. He made the shot four times and converted three three-point plays. He also was a factor as Canyons’ Nick Sanderson and Aaron Clark fouled out in the overtime period.

Sanderson had sent the game into overtime with an eight-foot bank shot at the buzzer, but Fowler and forward Dave Swanson combined for all seven Glendale points in the extra period and Canyons could only muster four.

The same pair spurred the second-half surge. Fowler scored 14 of Glendale’s first 23 points in the second half and Swanson had the other nine.

“I just wanted to win; that’s the bottom line,” said Fowler, who shook off a sprained shooting hand to make 10 of 15 shots from the field and eight of 10 free throws. He also had eight rebounds.

“They put pressure on us doing that,” Smelser said of Glendale’s emphasis on the inside game. “We kind of figured they would go to (Fowler) more in the second half.

“We couldn’t deny him the ball. If he got it, he forced the foul.”

Swanson supported Fowler with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Point guard Vigen Serop scored eight points and had nine assists.

For Canyons (7-13, 0-3), which built an 18-point lead in the second half, it was a frustrating loss.

For Canyons, Sanderson and Larry Allbritton tied for team scoring honors with 21 points.