Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) – The Citrus College men’s basketball team scored the first eight points of their game against LA Pierce on Saturday night, and never looked back as the Fighting Owls led wire to wire, cruising to their 17th victory of the year with an 83-65 win over the Brahma’s.
Citrus controlled the tempo for much of the game, and would lead by double digits for the final 27 minutes of the contest. Despite Citrus’ near dominance, the Brahma’s put up a fight, pulling to within six points of the Owls lead with just under eight minutes to play in the second half.
Citrus quickly answered however, as they rattled off 11 unanswered points to push their lead to 17 points after Buchi Awaji sent a slick pass down low to Troy Payne, who finished the play by laying the ball up and in off the glass.
In the second half, Citrus would continue to press their lead, taking as much as a 27-point lead after a lay-up by Jeremy Smith on a fast break, and a jumper by Ralph Monday made the score 62-35. Pierce would rally to pull within 14 points with just over three minutes to play, but Citrus’ lead was too much to overtake as Citrus finished the game with an 18-point victory.
Freshman AJ Gasporra finished with a team high 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the floor, while sophomore Richard Frohlich filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in just 19 minutes of play.
The Fighting Owls have one final pre-conference game as they play host to Cypress College next Friday January 4th. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM.
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