Culver City, CA (Men’s Basketball) – Sophomore guard, Buchi Awaji scored a game high 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting from field to lead Citrus to its 20th victory of the season in a 93-86 win over West LA College Saturday night. It was Awaji’s 10th 20 point game of the season and his second in as many games.
After shooting just 24% from the field in the first half of Wednesday’s game against Canyons, the Fighting Owls looked to open up Saturday’s WSC South away game with a bang, but they quickly found themselves struggling in the same quagmire that they opened up Wednesday’s game with, as they missed their first seven shots including free-throws.
Citrus watched as the Oilers took advantage of their miscues, as West LA opened up the game with a 9-0 lead over the Owls. Despite trailing by as much as nine points mid-way through the first half, Citrus never wavered and began their fight back with a six minute 11-3 run that culminated in a Troy Payne lay-up in the lane off a J.R. Buensuceso assist.
Minutes later, West LA would wrestle the lead back away from Citrus, but the Owls would fight back taking the lead away from the Oilers for good with just over four minutes to go in the first half. With the game all tied up at 28-28, Awaji and company would put together a 19-5 run over the rest of the first half that would leave the Owls with a 14-point, 47-33 lead going into halftime. Sophomore Darren Moore put the finishing touches on the run when he drained a jumper with less than two seconds on the clock.
Citrus’ success in the first half stemmed from their ability to force Oiler turnovers while still protecting the ball on their end of the court. In the first half alone, Citrus turned the ball over just three times compared to 14 turnovers for West LA, and dominated the points off turnovers category, out-scoring the Oilers 18-4.
In the second half, Citrus would open up an 18-point lead and led by as much as 15-points with just over five minutes to play in the game. The closest West LA would get, would be within 7 points after back to back free-throws by Josh Jordan, but Citrus quickly answered with a lay-up and a pair of free-throws by Awaji to seal the victory.
In the win, the Owls were out-rebounded by a margin of 49-36, and were held to just 16.7% shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Despite their poor rebounding and 3-point shooting numbers, the Owls dominated West LA in points in the paint (36-26), and points off the bench (47-26).
With the win, Citrus, ranked #1 by JCHoops.com, improves to 20-1 on the season and 2-0 in WSC South play, while the Oilers fall to 13-6 and 1-1 in WSC South play. Citrus hits the road yet again this coming Wednesday, as it travels to Valley Glen, CA to take on the Monarchs of LA Valley. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.
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