Glendora, CA(Men’s Basketball) – There may be no cheesier saying then, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” While it may be quaint, it is the most apropos metaphor for Citrus’ game with Canyons on Wednesday night. Having out-scored their opponents by nearly 30 points a game, the Fighting Owls have played in only three games, including tonight’s, where the final score has been only a single digit deficit.
After cruising through most of their pre-conference schedule, the Fighting Owls faced a battle tonight with Canyon’s, and got going in their 79-72 victory. Citrus battled back from shooting a season worst 24.2% from the field in the first half to claim its first win over Canyon’s in over a year, and only its second in their last five meetings.
Even though Citrus scored the first nine points of the contest, it was apparent from the very beginning that it was going to be a long shooting night for the Owls. Citrus missed eight of its first nine shots of the game, and spent much of the first half shooting well below 20% from the field.
The Owls came out of the gate quickly, but Canyons slowly but surely made their way back into the game, tying the game up at 17-17 with just over eight minutes to play in the first half. 45 seconds later, the Cougars had taken the lead after a Brian Kimble lay-up made the score 19-17 in favor of Canyons. It was the first time Citrus had trailed at home in four games and only the second time all season.
Canyons would lead by as much 4-points, and led by three points with just under two minutes to go in the half. At that point, the sophomores for Citrus began to take over as Nate Richardson calmly drained a jumper in the lane to cut the lead to one.
With just a minute left, Citrus finally got its best scorer going as Buchi Awaji nailed a trey to give the Owls the lead. Eight seconds later Awaji was on the board again as he stole the ball and finished on the other end with a jumper to push the lead to four points. That was short lived however as Canyons’ Jason Holzwarth hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, as Citrus settled for a 1-point, 32-31 lead to go into half-time.
Canyons kick started the second half with another three from Holzwarth, as they took a 2-point lead to start the second frame. Citrus answered back however grabbing the lead again after a Richard Frohlich free-throw and a Darren Moore jumper.
After Moore sank back to back free-throws with 10:08 on the clock, Citrus held an eight point lead. Canyons would catch the Owls off guard however, as they poured in nine unanswered points taking the lead with just over seven minutes to play.
Canyons would hold onto the lead until Citrus made their final charge with 5:28 to play. Troy Payne would help push the Owls over the hump with a 2-pointer that gave the Owls the lead back at 63-62. After each team exchanged turnovers, the Owls executed a picture perfect fast break that pushed their lead even further out of reach.
As Canyon’s Andrey Orlov went up for a shot, Citrus freshman AJ Greenwood blocked Orlov’s shot and Payne grabbed the rebound. Payne quickly whipped the ball out Awaji who started the fast break. With Darren Moore trailing Awaji drew off the lone defender, and dropped the ball into the hands of Moore who laid the ball up and in making the score 65-62.
With just under a minute to play, and the Owls leading by six Awaji crushed all hopes the Cougar’s still held as he took a Kelly Johnson pass and finished a breathtaking dunk all while being fouled to push the lead to 74-68. From there on out Citrus’ lead never fell below five points, as they settled in for their 19th victory of the year.
Despite shooting just 24.2% in the first half, the Owls came back strong in the second shooting around their season average at 45.5%. Awaji and Moore proved to be Citrus’ go-to-scorers as Awaji contributed 25 points and Moore chipped in with 24, both game highs. Troy Payne would grab a game high 11 rebounds, while Kelly Johnson dished out a team high 4 assists.
With the win, the Fighting Owls, ranked #1 in Southern California by JCHoops.com, improve to 19-1 on the season and 1-0 in WSC South play. Citrus will be back on the road this weekend as it travels to West LA for its first road conference game of the year. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM in Culver City.
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