Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Men’s Basketball team, ranked #4 in the State, got off to a slow start in Friday afternoon’s game with Victor Valley in the opening round of the 2009 Neil Edwards Classic. Fortunately for the Fighting Owls they finished strong as they ran roughshod over the Rams 86-63.
Citrus’ slow start was due in part to poor shooting, as the Fighting Owls made just 4 of their first 15 shots of the contest. Things began to turn around at about the 10 minute mark, when Citrus went on a 15-3 run to take a commanding 24-12 lead after a trey by Jose Rivera. Citrus continued to keep on the after burners taking a 21 point lead into the break after Donnel Phifer closed out the half with a 3-pointer, making the score 44-23.
In the second half it would be all Citrus all the time, as the Fighting Owls pushed their lead to as much as 31 points after a lay-up by Tom Granado with 7:55. From that point on though, Victor Valley would score 19 of the final 28 points, but by then it was too little to late as the Fighting Owls easily advanced to the semi-finals.
After shooting just 26.7% from the floor in the first ten minutes of the game, Citrus closed out the game by shooting 41.6% from the field. Citrus was led by a pair of sophomores who posted double-doubles in the win. Keith Thompson would finish with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Jose Rivera added 11 points a career and game high 10 assists.
With the win, Citrus improves to 5-0 overall, while Victor Valley drops to 1-5. The Fighting Owls will face San Diego City in the semi-finals tomorrow night at 5:00 PM. The winner of tomorrow night’s game will play the winner of the Mt. SAC vs Orange Coast game in Sunday night’s championship contest.
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