Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Fighting Owls, ranked #2 in the State, got a game high 23 points and season high 10 rebounds from sophomore Justin Johnson, as they held off a pesky West LA squad, 79-65 on Saturday night.
Citrus would kick the game off with a bang, scoring seven of the first nine points of the game, running out to a 7-2 lead after a jumper in the paint by sophomore Mark Dorsey. The Fighting Owls would continue to cling to that lead for the rest of the half, growing it to as large as 10 points at the 12:54 mark, after a jumper by freshman Keith Thompson.
West LA would prove to be very pesky however, pulling to within a point of the Citrus lead twice over the next 6 minutes, and even tying the game up at the 6:09 mark after a pair of free-throws from Eddie Calvo made the score 24-24.
The Fighting Owls would fire back with a 13-2 run, that sophomore Kelly Johnson put an exclamation mark on with a steal and fast-break lay-up that gave Citrus a 37-29 lead with just over a minute to go. Both teams would trade a few more buckets, before Citrus settled in for a 10-point lead at half-time.
With a double-digit lead, Citrus got blitzed opening the second half, as West LA scored 9 unanswered points to start the second period, as a 3-point play by Chanderrick Tyson cut the Fighting Owl lead to one point with 17:24 to go.
Citrus would answer back with a few more baskets, but the Wildcats wouldn’t go away, eventually grabbing the lead away from Citrus when a Jason Pruitt jumper in the paint, gave West LA a 49-48 lead with just over 13 minutes to play. From that point on, the lead would change hands five more times before the game was over.
With the Wildcats clinging to a slim one point lead after a Chris Williams jumper in the paint made the score 60-59 with 8:13 left on the clock, Citrus made their move. The Fighting Owls would score nine straight points, aided in part by a 3-point play by Kelly Johnson that was directly followed by a technical against West LA that resulted in a five point swing in a matter of seconds.
With momentum on their side, Citrus never looked back as Justin Johnson hit 6 of his 6 free-throws down the stretch, to seal the deal for the Fighting Owls.
Along with Johnson, sophomore guard Stephen Bennett boasted a strong game. Bennett was Citrus’ only other double-digit scorer, pouring in 12 points and adding a game high 5 assists. For West LA, Shakir Johnson led the way with 18 points and 11 boards.
With the win, Citrus improves to 18-3 overall and 2-0 in WSC South Division play, while West LA drops to 11-10 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Fighting Owls will play the second of their back to back home games on Wednesday when the play host to the Monarchs of LA Valley College (11-6, 2-0). Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.
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