Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Men’s Basketball team, ranked #2 in the State and #1 in Southern California, were without their top scorer and without their top rebounder on Wednesday night. Despite being shorthanded, the Owls fought through and came out on top against a tough Bakersfield College squad 72-69.
The game would be tight from the get go with the lead exchanging hands on eight different occasions in the first half. Bakersfield would knot the game up four more times in the first twenty minutes, while Citrus did it once more.
The Owls would seemingly grab hold of things midway through the first half when a seven point swing for Citrus, capped off by a layup from freshman Brent Watkins, gave the Owls a 26-20 lead, the largest by either team to that point.
Bakersfield pecked away at the advantage though as they tied the game up with just under two minutes to go, and then took back the lead on a mini 6-0 run that put the Renegades up 35-31 with 40 seconds left in the half. A layup by Citrus sophomore Nolan Abernathy with two seconds left would cut the Bakersfield lead back down to two, as the Owls went into the break, down 35-33.
The Renegades would hold onto their lead for the first four minutes of the second half. The Owls used a 9-0 run started off by back to back three pointers from freshman Keyon Sayles that put Citrus back on top 45-39 when it was all said and done. From that point forward, Citrus never relinquished their lead, but it was never easy.
Citrus’ largest lead of the night would come with 5:38 left in the game when freshman Royal Mathews banged home a trey that put the Owls up by 13 66-53. That would prove to be Citrus’ final field goal of the game though, as they missed their final two field goal attempts of the contest and turned the ball over on their next three trips down the floor all on charge calls.
The Owls’ saving grace down the stretch would be their trips to the charity stripe. Citrus went to the line 10 times in the final two minutes, hitting six free-throws. None were bigger than the pair of free-throws Abernathy hit with 14 seconds left in the game that put Citrus back up five.
Bakersfield would score on their next trip down the floor with two seconds to go cutting the lead to three. On the ensuing Citrus inbound, the Owls turned the ball over, but a desperation three by Bakersfield didn’t get off in time as Citrus took the three point victory.
In the win, Citrus was led by sophomore James Walker who scored a game high 24 points. Freshman Brandon Woods added 12 while freshman Kendrick Thomas scored 13 points and grabbed a team high eight rebounds.
With the win, Citrus improves to 17-1 overall and 4-0 in WSC South play. The Owls will hit the road on Saturday to take on West Los Angeles College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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