Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- Sophomore Steven Bennett was a human bail out plan on Friday afternoon, as the Fighting Owls struggled to get their game going against East Los Angeles College in the opening round of the Neil Edwards Classic. Bennett scored a career high 17 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and probably most importantly recorded 0 turnovers in Citrus’ 85-64 win over the Huskies.
Citrus never trailed in Friday’s contest, but the game was far from a blowout. East LA tied up Citrus eight times in the first half, as the Huskies out-rebounded (34-14), out-shot (39.5% to 37.8%), and basically out-hustled the Fighting Owls in the first half, trailing by just three points to the State’s #1 team 33-36 at the half.
With their worst half of basketball this season behind them, the Fighting Owls turned to Bennett to help get them going. Citrus opened up the second half by scoring 12 unanswered points, including four by Bennett. The Owls would continue to open up their lead to 17 points thanks to a trey from sophomore Curtis Eatmon.
Despite running out to such a large lead, Citrus still couldn’t put away East LA, as the Huskies pulled back to within six points of the Fighting Owl lead with just under five minutes to play. Once again Bennett, jumped to the fore front scoring six more points down the stretch, helping lead Citrus to a 21 point victory.
Along with Bennett, sophomore Troy Payne put together a strong stat line, despite struggling form the field. Payne finished his afternoon with 8 points, a team high 8 rebounds, and a game high 6 steals. For East LA, Ralph Nevarez led the way with a team high 12 points and game high 11 rebounds.
With the win Citrus improves to 8-0, while East LA falls to 4-3. Citrus will move to the semi-finals of the Neil Edwards and face Reedley College (ranked #18 in the State), who defeated Victor Valley College (also ranked#18 in the State) 68-56 later in the evening, while East LA will face off with the Rams. Tip-off for the Citrus vs Reedley game will begin at 7:00 PM.
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