Canyons Joins Valley Atop WSC : College basketball: Cougars escape with 71-68 win to tie Monarchs for Southern Division lead.

Valley College and Canyons battled on almost even terms for 40 minutes Saturday, so it seemed only fitting that the Cougars’ 71-68 victory created a tie between the schools atop the Western State Conference Southern Division standings.

Valley, which scored a last-second 87-86 victory over Canyons on Jan. 16, had a chance to send the game into overtime when the Monarchs’ Nathan Hall rebounded Jeff Dorst’s miss with six seconds to play and passed upcourt to Baldwin, who was open at the three-point line.

But Baldwin hesitated before shooting, allowing Nick Sanderson--who scored a game-high 24 points for Valley--to come up from the key and defend him. By the time Baldwin passed across court to Tory Stephens, the buzzer had sounded.

“I saw them go to Russell, so I went to him,” Sanderson said. “I put my hands up and hoped he wouldn’t shoot it.”

Said Canyons Coach Lee Smelser: “Russell should have shot the ball. But I don’t know why Dorst shot with eight or nine seconds left. If Dorst had made it, it would have been a great shot.”

With the win Canyons improved to 15-12 overall, 5-1 in division play; Valley is 16-11, 5-1.

Canyons led most of the game. The Cougars jumped to a 21-11 lead in the first half and held Valley to 31% shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes. Canyons extended its 32-26 halftime lead in the second half, leading by as many as 13 points on three occasions.

But Valley’s big scorers--Rick Garrick, Stephens and Baldwin--finally got hot. Garrick (17 points) made consecutive three-point baskets to pull Valley within 62-55, then Baldwin hit a three-point shot to trim Canyons’ lead to four.

Another three-point basket by Garrick cut Valley’s deficit to 62-61 and, after a Cougar turnover, Stephens tossed in a jump shot to put the Monarchs ahead, 63-62, with 4 minutes 54 seconds to play.

“I think we gave them a lot of opportunities to get back into the game, and they seized them,” Smelser said. “Pretty soon we were down a point--just like that.”

But not for long.

Jason Harrison gave Canyons the lead for good when he blocked a Stephens’ jump shot and converted a layup at the other end. Sanderson added two free throws moments later and teammate Reggie Bell (17 points, 12 rebounds) followed with a free throw for a 67-63 Cougar advantage.

Baldwin (22 points, 11 rebounds) countered with a three-point basket, but Sanderson sank a jump shot and Bell added two free throws to give Canyons a 71-66 lead with 1:02 to play. Garrick fouled out of the game at that point--one of three Valley players to do so.

Stephens made a steal and layup with 47 seconds left, but that was Valley’s last hurrah.