Cougars Close Out Rio Hondo 89-78
By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information
College of the Canyons picked up a win in the Cougar Cage on Friday night, getting past Rio Hondo College in an 89-78 final score.
Canyons (4-6) saw the majority of its points come from the duo of Joshua Barnett and Jonah El-Farra.
Barnett ran the court with a season-high 32 points. The freshman shot better than 52 percent from the field and 55 percent from behind the arc, registering seven assists and totaling eight rebounds.
El-Farra was close behind with 27 points on the night after shooting 66 percent from the field. The sophomore forward led the Cougars with 17 rebounds.
The rest of the Cougars filled in the gaps with eight points coming from Isaiah Baptista, six apiece from Jacob Gonzalez and Raz Orbach and five from Logan Ghoumari.
The Roadrunners (2-9) held the lead for the first eight minutes of play before the Cougars found their stride. Rio Hondo kept working and evened the score a few times, but their momentum was squashed when Canyons pulled away once again late in the second half, eventually resulting in the 89-79 victory.
The Cougars have now won of its last three after a tough five-game stretch. The lone loss in that sequence was a 66-61 result to visiting Cypress College earlier in the week.
COC is back on Lee Smelser Court Wednesday, Dec. 20 for a non-conference matchup vs. L.A. Pierce College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Canyons will then host the annual Cougar Holiday Classic Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 28 and Friday, Dec. 29.
The host Cougars face Los Angeles Trade Tech at 1 p.m. on Thursday with Friday's matchups determined by day one results. Mt. San Antonio College and Orange Coast College are the other participating programs.
Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
—Photo by Carla Sophia Velasco/COC Sports Information