Moorpark Starts Fast, Buries Glendale, 79-62

Moorpark College plays its road games in black and blue uniforms, but it was Glendale that was left battered and bruised in a 79-62 Western State Conference loss Saturday night at Glendale.

“They were fired up for this game,” Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin said of Moorpark. “They came with intentions to beat us up, and they did.”

Coming off a loss to rival Ventura, Moorpark (16-6, 4-1) buried Glendale (15-9, 3-3) with a 40-18 first-half onslaught. During that span, four of Glendale’s starters failed to score.

“That’s as well as we’ve played in a half all season long,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said. “We really played with great intensity.”

Glendale had 13 first-half turnovers and fell behind by as many as 24 points before the break. To add injury to insult, Glendale lost starting forward Justin Lord to an ankle injury in the opening minutes.

“It was probably the worst half since the conception of basketball, since James Naismith on up,” Beauchemin said. “We just executed poorly.”

Moorpark point guard Sam Crawford orchestrated the first-half run with a stunning passing display.

Crawford assisted on Moorpark’s first three baskets in an 8-0 opening flurry, and he assisted on six of the team’s first 10 baskets. He finished with 14 assists and helped Moorpark shoot 56% from the field.

Meanwhile, Bruce Heicke and Dave Swanson, perhaps Glendale’s two best shooters, were ineffective from the perimeter.

Heicke made only one of 12 shots and Swanson struggled for 10 points on three-of-16 shooting.

Glendale’s Gary Fowler led all scorers with 26 points, and Tony Lopez added 10.

Bruce Watson led Moorpark with 18 points. Greg Taylor scored 14 and had 12 rebounds as Moorpark outrebounded Glendale, 41-32.

Moorpark’s Roger Thomas scored 11 points, Mike Waggoner 10, and Crawford nine.

Glendale cut Moorpark’s lead to 12 points late in the game after falling behind by 28 early in the second half.