Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- When a team is coming off a hard loss, there’s nothing better for a team, than a big win against a tough opponent. The Citrus College Fighting Owls got exactly that on Sunday afternoon, as it dispatched of Chaffey College (the State’s 7th ranked team) 90-84.
The game would be close right from the tip. After Citrus took an early three point lead, the Panthers fired back with a 12-4 run after back to back free-throws from Chaffey’s Winston Robinson gave them a 12-7 lead.
Citrus quickly responded however, 17 of the next 19 points taking a 24-14 lead after a pair of Justin Johnson free-throws. The Fighting Owls lead would grow as large as 14 points after a fast-break lay-up by Jose Rivera at the 4:47 mark, but Chaffey would chip away at the lead as Citrus settled in for a nine point advantage at the half.
After the Fighting Owls opened up the half with a Nathan Gibbs lay-up, Chaffey went on a 12-4 run, cutting the Citrus lead to three points after a fast break lay-up by Nickalas Turner. Chaffey would tie the game up a few minutes later, but Citrus would answer with another fast break lay-up this time by Curtis Eatmon.
From there the Panthers would tie the game up three more times, but Citrus has an answer for every one, until Chaffey’s Lamar Williams hit a 3-pointer with just over eight minutes to play. Citrus quickly responded with a drive and lay-up by Steven Bennett, that gave the Fighting Owls back the lead.
Citrus would hold that lead for a few more minutes, until another Chaffey trey, this time from Turner, that gave the Panthers a two point advantage. Chaffey would push their lead to five points, but Citrus battled back, taking the lead back from the Panthers on a three ball from Jose Rivera.
Chaffey would tie the game up twice more, but Citrus’ Mark Dorsey’s back to back lay-up and dunk gave the Fighting Owls back the lead. From there Citrus would hit all of there free-throws down the stretch, preserving the six point victory.
In the win, Citrus was led by Dorsey, who scored a game high 18 points, including 9 in the final three minutes, and grabbed 7 boards. All in all the Fighting Owls had six players finish in double-digits including Justin Johnson (14) and Steven Bennett (10) who were both named to the All-Tournament team. For Chaffey, Turner led the way with 15 points.
With the win, Citrus improved to 9-1 overall, while Chaffey falls to 6-2. Citrus will be off for the next few days, before resuming pre-conference play on Friday, when they travel to Torrance, CA for a 7:30 PM match-up with the Warriors of El Camino.
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