Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) – After going 0 for 3 in tournament championship games last season, the Fighting Owls made a point early in the season to finish things when it matters most. After winning their first tournament of the year two weeks ago, Citrus completed the task for the second tournament in a row as they beat Orange Coast College 114-92 in the championship game of the 2007 Neil Edwards Classic.
While the Owls won convincingly, the Pirates put up a great fight with four lead changes in the first nine minutes of the game. After Citrus grabbed an early four point lead, Orange Coast would score six of the next nine points, capped off by a 3-pointer by Brian Gee and fast break-up lay-up by Matthew Ching, giving the Pirates a 10-7 lead.
Orange Coast would keep the Owls at bay, until the Owls and Sophomore Buchi Awaji came alive. With Citrus trailing by five points, the Owls go-to-scorer helped pull Citrus back into the game as Awaji nailed a 3-pointer and slammed home a break away dunk after a Richard Frohlich steal to tie the game up at 20.
Forty seconds later, Citrus took the lead for good when point guard Kelly Johnson laid the ball up and in, on a fast-break to make the score 22-20. The Owls would then out-score the Pirates 31-24 over the final 11 minutes of the 1st half too take a 9-point 53-44 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Orange Coast would keep trying to peck away at the Citrus lead, but the Owls would have an answer for every Pirate charge. The closest Orange Coast would get would be within five points after Shaun Engle nailed a jumper in the lane to pull the Pirates close at 72-75. Citrus quickly responded with a 16-2 run however, and put OCC at arms length for the rest of the game.
Citrus shot an impressive 57.6% from the floor and 52.6% from beyond the 3-point line in the victory. Awaji was the games leading scorer with a season high 29 points on 11 of 13 shooting from the floor. Ralph Monday was the game’s leading rebounder with 10 boards, while J.R. Buensuceso continued his stellar play as he chipped in with 18 points.
For his efforts Buensuceso was named tournament MVP, while fellow teammate A.J. Gasporra was named to the All-Tournament team.
With the win, the Owls move to 8-0 on the season for their best start in recent history. Citrus will be back at home on Wednesday as they play host to Palomar. Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.
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