Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- Having split their previous two meetings with visiting Mt. San Antonio College (ranked #6 in the State), and coming off their first back to back losses in three seasons, the Citrus College Men’s Basketball team (ranked #5 in the State) had a “where the rubber meets the road” game against the Mounties on Wednesday night. The Fighting Owls responded with aplomb winning 78-59.
Citrus would lead wire to wire on Wednesday night, as the Fighting Owls scored ten of the first fourteen points of the contest, capped off by a Tom Granado offensive rebound and lay-up that made the score 10-4 in favor of Citrus with 15:28 to play.
The Mounties would draw to within five points of the Fighting Owl lead with just under 14 minutes to go, but a 13-0 run finished off when Jerry Santos found Cameron Khoury for a short jumper in the paint gave Citrus a 28-10 lead with just over ten minutes to go.
Citrus’ lead would drop to 12 points before the half was up, but again Citrus answered leading by as much as 20 points after another Granado lay-up with just over two minutes to play before Citrus settled in for a comfortable 17 point lead at the half. In the first half alone, the Fighting Owls converted on 50% of their shots from the floor, and went an impressive 5 for 7 behind the 3-point arc (71.4%).
Not much would change in the second half (besides Citrus’ 3-point stroke). The Fighting Owls would keep their lead in double-digits throughout the remainder of the game.
The Mounties got as close as 13 points on three separate occasions, and even got to within 12 with just under three minutes to go. Citrus responded accordingly though getting a lay-up by Randy Hunter and a tip-in by Keith Thompson to get the lead back up to 16 points before finishing with a 19 point victory.
In the win, Citrus was led by Thompson who scored a game high 17 points, hauled in 10 rebounds, and recorded 5 steals. Hunter would add his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game high 11 rebounds (including seven on the offensive glass).
With the victory, Citrus improves to 11-2 overall, while Mt. SAC falls to 11-3. The Fighting Owls will take the next two weeks off to enjoy the holiday season before coming back on December 29th for the Citrus College Holiday Classic. The two day event will feature three games each day, with the Fighting Owls taking on LA Pierce on Tuesday at 3:00 PM and Oxnard College on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
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