By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons closed out the season in winning fashion, fighting to the end for an 81-78 win over Santa Monica College during ‘Sophomore Night’ at the Cougar Cage on Friday.

Canyons (14-14, 5-9) finishes the season .500 or better for the second straight season after winning its final two games. COC was also a 74-73 road winner in overtime at Glendale College on Wednesday

COC sophomore Andrew Henderson also achieved a personal milestone by surpassing 1,000 career points in his two seasons as a Cougar. Henderson scored a season-high 33 points to give him 1,006 for his career. He was 12-of-18 for the game and 5-of-8 from downtown.

The Cougars needed every one of those points to get past Santa Monica (12-16, 8-6) which overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to take a 76-73 lead with just under two minutes to play.

A three-point play from Jonah El-Farra tied the game with 1:22 to go then Henderson buried a three-pointer to give Canyons some breathing room before the eventual 81-78 final score.

The Corsairs had four starters finish in double digits after the comeback attempt with a team-high 19 coming from Quinn Collins. Cam Cohn was next with 16 points.

COC received 13 points and 10 board off the bench from El-Farra and Dillon Barrientos ended his night with 11 points and six assists. Mason Savery also scored nine points with three rebounds in a reserve role.

Top Performers 

– Dillon Barrientos – 37 mins, 11 pts, 2 rebs, 6 assists

– Jonah El-Farra – 26 mins, 13 pts, 10 rebs, 2 stl, block

– Andrew Henderson – 33 mins, 33 pts, 7 rebs, assist, 2 stl, block, 12-of-18 shooting

– Mason Savery – 9 mins, 9 pts, 3 rebs, stl

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 Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.