Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball)-- Sophomore Troy Payne matched a career high with 24 points and recorded his fourth straight double-double in helping lead the Fighting Owls to their second straight out-right WSC South Division Championship with a 114-106 win over Glendale on Saturday night. The back to back conference titles marks the first time any Citrus basketball team has won two conference titles two years in a row.
With an out-right championships on the line, the Fighting Owls got off to a bit of a slow start. Citrus missed 10 of their first 13 shots of the night, and found themselves in an early 14-6 hole. A tip-in by Troy Payne off a missed Steven Bennett lay-up would kick start the Citrus offense however, as Citrus quickly regained the lead after a put-back dunk by Mark Dorsey gave an 18-17 advantage.
Citrus continued to cruise using a 16 points swing to take an 11-point lead after a lay-up by Nate Gibbs off a Kelly Johnson miss. The Fighting Owls lead would grow to as large as 14-points after a dunk by Gibbs and assist by Johnson, but Glendale battled pulling to within 6 when Markus Monroe nailed a triple with just over a minute to play.
Citrus would answer with a trey of their own, thanks to Terrance Reaves, but a pair of free-throws by Glendale, would leave Citrus with an 8-point 57-49 lead at the half. After starting off the game by shooting just .230 from the floor over the first five minutes, Citrus had rallied to score a season high 57 points at the break.
Glendale would come out ready to play in the second scoring the first six points to draw to within two points of the Citrus lead. A jumper by Curtis Eatmon however, would lead to seven unanswered points and Citrus holding a 62-55 lead.
Citrus would start to force the issue over the next 8 minutes pushing their lead to 20 points after a lay-up by Zareh Zargaryan gave Citrus a 102-82 advantage with just over seven minutes to play. That’s when Glendale began to slowly but surely crawl back, cutting the Citrus lead to six points after a Monroe 3-pointer with 1:03 left to go.
The Fighting Owl defense hunkered down though, forcing the Vaqueros into back to back missed field goal attempts, and Citrus made two free-throws in the final minute to claim an 8-point victory.
Along with his 24 points, Payne added 10 rebounds, including 8 on the offensive glass. Citrus had four other players finish in double-digits, with sophomore’s Steven Bennett and Curtis Eatmon each adding 13 a piece, and sophomore Justin Johnson and freshman Nate Gibbs contributing 10 points each. Sophomore point guard Kelly Johnson would also finish the night with a nice stat line, scoring just 4 points, but grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 8 assists, recording 4 steals, and turning the ball over just once.
With the win Citrus improves to 26-4 overall and 10-1 in WSC South Division play, while Glendale falls to 12-15 overall and 5-5 in conference play. Citrus will be the recipient of a bye on Wednesday, before finishing the regular season with a trip up North to Bakersfield on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.
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