Glendora, CA (Men's Basketball) -- The Citrus College men's basketball team, ranked #1 in the State since the pre-season polls came out, proved exactly why they are so respected as they trounced Mira Costa College 107-72 in their season opener on Tuesday night. The Fighting Owls had six players score in double-digits and shot 52.3% from the floor as they picked up their first win of the season, in their first game of the season.
While Citrus eventually won big, Mira Costa looked like they came to play very early on, going tit for tat with the Fighting Owls for the first five minutes of the game. With Citrus holding on to a slim 10-9 lead with 15:31 left in the first half, the Fighting Owls began to make a move, when a thunderous dunk in the lane by sophomore Mark Dorsey sparked a 10-2 run that ended with Citrus leading 20-11.
Both teams would trade buckets for the next few minutes until Citrus turned on the burners again, using a fast break lay-up by sophomore Curtis Eatmon that kick-started a 17-7 run. Six minutes later the run ended in another fast break lay-up this time by freshman Kyle Gordien, that put the Fighting Owls up 52-32 with just over two minutes to play in the first half. From there Citrus never looked back growing their lead to as large as 38 points in the second half, before settling in for their 35 point win.
The Fighting Owls dominated the stat sheet, by out-rebounding (45-36), out-shooting (52.3% to 45.9%), out-muscling (48 points in the paint to 20), and out-hustling (31 fast break points to 10, 37 points off to turnovers to 16) the Spartans.
Sophomore Justin Johnson and freshman Nathan Gibbs each poured in a team high 16 points, with freshman Jose Rivera (12 points), sophomore Curtis Eatmon (10 points), sophomore Steven Bennett (10 points), and sophomore Troy Payne (10 points) all adding to the cause. Payne would also finish the night with his first double-double of the season as he hauled in a game high 11 boards, while sophomore Kelly Johnson chipped in with a game high 6 assists.
With the win Citrus improves to 1-0 this season, while Mira Costa falls to 2-1. The Fighting Owls will hit the road this weekend and head South to participate in the Knights Invitational hosted by San Diego City College. Citrus won last year's Knight's Invitational, and will take on Grossmont College in the first round of this weekend's tournament. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM on Friday afternoon.
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