Stockton, CA(Men's Basketball) -- It wasn't pretty, but it worked. That's the best sentence to describe Citrus' 73-55 State Quarterfinal victory over College of Sequoias on Friday afternoon. The #1 seed Fighting Owls were out-rebounded, forced into 15 turnovers, and shot just 50% from the free-throw line, but it didn't matter. Citrus was still too much for the Giants to handle, as they advanced to the State Semi-Finals with an 18 point victory.
Sequoias would open the game by scoring four of the first six points, and jumping out to a very early 4-2 lead. Thirty seconds later, Virgil Buensuceso nailed a three pointer, and the Owls never trailed again. Despite taking a strangle-hold of the lead early on, the Fighting Owls didn't pull away from the Giants right away.
The Giants would keep the game close throughout most of the first half, tying the game up at 14 all with 11:31 on the clock. At that point, Citrus kicked into another gear, rattling off a 10-0 run that ended with an offensive rebound by AJ Gasporra and a lay-up off the glass and into the hoop by Troy Payne.
Sequoias would answer with a lay-up of their own, but the Owls closed the first half, scoring 15 of the final 21 points of the half, and taking an 18-point 39-21 lead into the break. Citrus was largely bolstered by forcing the Giants into 16 first half turnovers, and turning those turnovers into 11 points, more than half of their lead.
In the second half, Citrus cruised. The Owls lead would grow as large as 22 points after a fast-break lay-up by Nate Richardson made the score 49-27, and the Giants were never able to pull within striking distance. The only time Citrus' lead would fall below 17 points in the second half, was when with just a minute to play, a back end off a pair of free-throws by the Giants made the score 69-53. It didn't matter much though, as Citrus settled in for an 18 point victory.
The Owls had just two players finish in double-digits when all was said and done, as Richardson poured in a team high 12 points, with Ralph Monday adding 10 more. Despite having just two scorers finish with at least 10 points, the Owls featured 9 players that scored at least 5 points.
With the win, the Owls improve to 33-1 overall, and draw the right to play LA Trade Tech in tomorrow night's Semi-Final match-up. Trade Tech, the South's #3 seed, arrives in the Semi-Final game via a 106-95 win over the North's #2 Fresno City College. You can follow the game via radio through the COA Website, or on our live Game Blog here at the Citrus web-site. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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