Canyons Loses One at the Line : Men’s basketball: Cougars tagged for 35 fouls and Antelope Valley wins tournament, 91-83.

Nothing like 59 personal fouls to ruin an otherwise perfectly nice basketball game.

That’s how many there were in a 91-83 victory by Antelope Valley College over Canyons in the championship game of the Canyons men’s tournament Thursday night.

The Marauders (12-5), who won for the seventh consecutive time, committed 24 of the infractions but took advantage of the 35 transgressions by Canyons (7-9) to run up 41 points at the free-throw line.

“Both teams play very aggressive defense,” said Newton Chelette, Antelope Valley coach.

Marauder forward Orville Turner, who scored a game-high 34 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player, was one of the main beneficiaries of the foul-a-thon.

Turner made 15 of 17 free throws, including all 11 he attempted in the second half.

Canyons, on the other hand, connected on only 17 of 30 from the line (56.7%).

The victory by Antelope Valley avenged an 82-73 nonconference loss to the Cougars on Nov. 19. The Marauders have won 11 of 13 since.

“I don’t think they paid enough attention to us last time,” Cougar Coach Lee Smelser said.

Antelope Valley held a 35-30 lead at the half but the Cougars made a run in the second half, pulling to within 47-46 midway through the period.

The Marauders, however, went on an 11-2 blitz and stayed ahead the rest of the way. Turner scored seven points in that stretch.

“We’ve played awfully hard and we’ve played together,” Chelette said. “That’s what has helped us win 11 of the last 13.”

Forward Kwesi Fulton led Canyons with 25 points. The 6-foot-6 sophomore had 17 of his points in the first half, but got into foul trouble in the second half and fouled out with 1 minute 35 seconds to play.

Guard Norris Dorsey added 15 for Canyons and center Marrcel Crain had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Point guard Jerome Payton scored 21 points for the Marauders.

“I thought we played three hard games in a row,” Smelser said. “We showed some wear and tear tonight.”

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Moorpark 94, El Camino 67--Five players scored in double figures to pace the Raiders (11-6) in the third-place game.

Twins Paul and Nick Foster each had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Moorpark. The Raiders also got 15 points from forward Brady Mertes. Guard Jaime Jaquez scored 14 and guard Jim Harbour had 13. Guard Simon Zanki of El Camino led all scorers with 17 points.