Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The basketball season is just three weeks old, but all ready the Citrus College Men’s Basketball team has made a statement that they are still one of the best teams in the State. The Fighting Owls proved that on Sunday night by beating Mt. San Antonio College, ranked #3 in the State, 90-72 in the Championship Game of the 2009 Neil Edwards Classic.
Citrus would lead the game from the tip, getting a lay-up from Randy Hunter in the opening seconds of the contest to take a 2-0 lead. Mt. SAC answered with a lay-up of their own, but Citrus came back with another bucket in the paint by Keith Thompson and a trey by Jose Rivera to take a five point lead.
The Mounties would rally and battle drawing to within a point of the Citrus lead after a jumper in the lane by Laquenten Jones, but the Fighting Owls had a big answer as they scored ten unanswered points and took a 31-20 lead after a 10-foot jumper was buried by Jerry Santos.
Later on in the half, Citrus’ lead would grow to as much as 12 points and never dipped below six the rest of the half, as the Fighting Owls closed out the first period with momentum on their side thanks to a lay-up by Derrick Rodgers with seven seconds on the clock, giving Citrus a 46-37 edge going into the break.
In the second half, the Fighting Owls continued to keep Mt. SAC at arms length. The closest the Mounties would get was within six points after they opened up the second half with back to back buckets that made the score 41-47 less than two minutes into the second period.
Citrus answered though as Darin Stewart drilled a 3-pointer, and from that point forward Citrus never looked back as they cruised to an 18 point victory.
Sophomore Keith Thompson would finish the day with a team high 18 points, and was joined in double-digits by Jose Rivera (13), Jerry Santos (12), and Cameron Khoury (10) who also grabbed a team high eight boards. Thompson, Stewart, and Hunter would all earn All-Tournament honors, while Rivera took home the Tournament MVP award thanks to his 11 points and 6.7 assists per game average over the weekend.
With the win, Citrus improves to 7-0 while Mt. SAC falls to 8-1. Citrus will take a few days off before getting back after things at home later in the week as the Fighting Owls will play host to El Camino College on Friday December 4th. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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