Four Cougars Earn All-WSC Honors

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

The College of the Canyons men's basketball team had four players named to the 2018 All-Western State Conference (WSC), South Division Team.

For the second year in a row, COC sophomore guards Michael Kalu and Jacob Lilley were both First-Team selections.

COC freshman center Anthony Simone and sophomore forward Frankie Campbell both received Honorable Mention nods.

A total of 16 players from the conference's five teams were honored. Nine players earned First-Team designations. A full list of the 2018 All-WSC, South Division team is here.

Kalu led the Cougars in scoring with 17.1 per game to rank 12th in the WSC. His 4.5 rebounds each night were good for third on the team. During WSC contests Kalu averaged a team-high 17 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field.

Lilley scored an average of 11.7 points per game and dished out assists at a rate of 5.3 per contest. He started in all 28 games and led the team at 32.8 minutes per game. He ranked first on the team among players with more than 10 attempts with a 43.1 three-point shooting percentage. During conference games he averaged 6.1 assists to rank second in the WSC, while posting a stat line of 12.6 points and 1.5 steals per game.

Simone finished third on the team with 10.4 points per game and a team-high 60.1 shooting percentage. His 4.4 rebounds were fourth on the team. Simone also recorded a team-high 29 blocks over his 28 games. In conference games the freshman scored at a rate of 14.6 points per game and posted a 63 percent shooting percentage and ranked second in WSC with 2.1 blocks per game.

Campbell averaged nine points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game, but saw those numbers increase to 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds vs. WSC opponents. His 53 percent field goal percentage was second on the team.

Canyons concluded the 2017-18 season with a 14-14 overall record and 5-3 mark in conference play to finish second in the WSC, South. That record represented a two-game improvement from the previous season.

The Cougars earned the No. 20 seed in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs but fell to No. 13 Santiago Canyon College 99-73 in the opening round.