Erik Boal
NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- The Glendale Community College men's basketball
team returned to .500 with a bullet Wednesday night.
After trying to keep their heads above water against one of the
toughest nonconference schedules in the state in December and early
January, the Vaqueros are now enjoying their opportunities to dish out a
little punishment against the lower-tier teams in the Western State
Conference Southern Division.
And following a 96-65 drubbing of West L.A. College at home, GCC was
finally able to relish in a temporary moment of satisfaction, having
improved its record to 11-11 after what seemed like an endless uphill
climb to begin the season.
"Our big thing is that if we execute and we make shots, we're hard to
guard," said Vaquero Coach Brian Beauchemin, whose squad scored 90-plus
points for the second straight game, following a 93-69 victory at Citrus
College on Jan. 16.
"We're kind of getting the ball where we want to get it and we're
shooting with a little more confidence and that only improves our
situation."
Against the Oilers (5-17, 1-4 in division), the Vaqueros got the ball
to whom they wanted, when they wanted it and wherever on the court they
needed to get it in the first half, surging to a 32-11 lead a little more
than 10 minutes in.
GCC (3-1 in division) connected on 19 of 32 (59.4%) first-half shots
-- including nine of 14 (64.3%) from beyond the three-point arc -- as
eight players scored, including four tallying nine-or-more points, which
contributed to a 53-31 advantage at the break.
Then after a minor lull to open the second half, Beauchemin's squad
answered with a pair of nine-point runs to lead as many as 39 following
Alton Preston's three-pointer -- GCC's 13th of the contest -- with 3:40
left.
Following his 23-point effort against Citrus, Marc Walters tallied a
game-high 22 points, including 12 of 15 from the free-throw line.
Jeff Washington had 19 points, Ramall Goodrich added 17 and Germaine
Dixon contributed 11 for the Vaqueros, who finished 32 of 61 (52.5%) from
the field. Kevin Krose recorded nine points and 10 rebounds for GCC,
which travels to Santa Monica College at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
BOX SCORE
West L.A.*31*34*--*65
GCC*53*43*--*96
WEST L.A. -- Williams 19, Thompson 15, Clayton 12, Tobias 6, Dennis 4
and 4 assists, Edwards 4, Johnson 4 and 10 rebounds, Day 1.
* Three-pointers: Thompson 3, Williams 2.
GCC -- Walters 22 and 4 assists, Washington 19, Goodrich 17, Dixon 11,
Krose 9 and 10 rebounds, Preston 7 and 4 assists, Halic 5, Leon 3 and 7
rebounds, Parks 3.
* Three-pointers: Goodrich 3, Krose 3, Dixon 2, Washington 2, Halic,
Leon, Preston.
