Return of Cole Sparks Oxnard to 79-64 Victory Over Canyons

The Oxnard College men’s basketball team shot only 41.6% from the field and committed 18 turnovers, but Coach Remy McCarthy was nonetheless beaming after the Condors’ 79-64 victory over host Canyons in a Western State Conference interdivision game Wednesday night.

The reason for McCarthy’s ear-to-ear grin was the return to the lineup of point guard Chris Cole.

Cole, the two-time Southern Section Division IV player of the year at Santa Clara High, had missed the previous 11 games because of a stress fracture in his right foot, and Oxnard (11-6) had struggled without him. But Cole (eight points, five assists, five rebounds) did an admirable job of directing the Condors’ offense in his first game in nearly seven weeks.

“We’re a totally different team with Chris in there,” McCarthy said. “When he’s in the lineup, it allows Lance (Fay) to not have to work so hard, which helps his shooting.”

Fay, the Southern Section co-Division I player of the year for Buena High last season, scored a game-high 17 points for Oxnard, which took control with a 14-0 run late in the first half.

The Condors, who had five players score in double figures, blew the game open in the second half with 14-4 run that gave them a 65-45 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left.

The Condors held a 51-41 lead before their surge, which was helped by the fact that Canyons Coach Lee Smelser benched his starters with 10:51 to play, evidently disgruntled with their effort.

Canyons (11-9), which had won four of its previous five games, led, 22-17, midway through the first half, but Oxnard’s 14-0 run gave the Condors a 31-22 advantage with 4:42 remaining before intermission.

Fay and Stevie Amar each scored five points during the run and Canyons could not draw closer than four thereafter.

Amar scored 14 points in the game, and teammates Tony Ziuraitis (11), Andy Saint (11) and Ed Madec (10) also scored in double figures.

Art Wallace, Oxnard’s 6-foot-10 sophomore center, did not play because McCarthy did not feel he had practiced well.

“Art is going to have to prove to me that he is going to play harder in practice if he wants to play in the games,” McCarthy said. “The other guys are simply playing harder than him in practice.”

Even without Wallace in the lineup, Oxnard managed to keep Canyons center Jason Joynes under control, limiting the 6-9, 270-pound sophomore from Adelaide, Australia, to 13 points on five-of-15 shooting from the field.

Joynes scored 31 points in Canyons’ 95-92 double-overtime victory over Oxnard last season.

“(Ziuraitis) did a great job on him,” McCarthy said. “He did a good job on keeping him outside away from the basket. He hurts you when you allow him to get inside.”