Bit Players Step Up for Moorpark

The difference wasn’t Moorpark College’s twin towers, as Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin feared it would be.

Instead it was Leonard Colon--the smallest player on the floor--and David Fennell--a reserve who scored two points in the first half--who led the Raiders to a 68-58 victory over Glendale Thursday night in a Western State Conference interdivisional game.

Fennell scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Colon, who stands a good three inches below his listed height of 6 feet 1, grabbed two defensive rebounds and scored a key layup in the final two minutes to fend off the Vaqueros.

“I don’t know what happened there,” said an agitated Beauchemin, more upset with Colon’s not-so-pint-sized contribution than anything else. “He slipped through.”

As did an admirable effort by Glendale (10-8, 2-3 in the WSC), which trailed 15th-ranked Moorpark (15-6, 5-0) by only 57-56 with 1:45 to play.

That’s when Colon grabbed a defensive rebound and fed the ball upcourt. As the Raiders set up their half-court offense, Colon freed himself for a backdoor layup to give Moorpark a 59-56 lead.

Less than 30 seconds later, after a pair of free throws by Fennell put Moorpark up, 61-56, Colon snared yet another defensive rebound, only his third of the game, to end any hopes Glendale might have had.

Paul and Nick Foster, the twin towers, did indeed contribute in the post, Paul with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Nick with six points, 11 rebounds.

But it was the unheralded duo of Fennell and Colon who gave the most during crunch time.

“They were more concerned with the Fosters,” said Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist, “and that left some holes.”

Colon finished with 11 points.

Fennell, the third player off the Moorpark bench, knocked down some critical outside shots in the second half, including a 13-footer that put Moorpark ahead, 55-54, with 2:40 to play.

“That’s probably his best game of the year,” Nordquist said.

Fennell gave credit to the Fosters’ presence.

“Sometimes (Glendale) collapsed down in the post and then it was up to us,” Fennell said. “We have to show we can hit the outside shots.”

Charles Garcia had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Glendale.