Thousand Oaks, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Men’s Basketball team, the #2 seed in the South, left no doubt about who was the better team on the floor tonight in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of California Lutheran University. The Fighting Owls led North #3 San Jose City from start to finish, and it was never really close as they advanced to the Final Four with an impressive 74-53 victory.
Sophomore Keith Thompson set the tempo from the start getting the first points of the game on an emphatic put-back dunk. The Owls followed that with a Randy Hunter lay-up, and after a bucket by the Jaguars, scored 15 of the next 23 points to take a commanding 19-8 lead less than nine minutes into the competition.
Citrus stifled the Jaguars in the first half, allowing them to score just 13 points in the final 11 minutes in the half, as they held them to just 19.4% shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Fighting Owls pushed their lead to as large as 21 points at the break after a pair of Donnel Phifer free-throws made the score 42-21 at halftime.
After De’Andre Haskins opened up the second half with a beautiful jumper in the lane, San Jose made their biggest run and largest threat to Citrus by scoring the next 10 points, cutting Citrus’ lead to 13 points at 44-31. The Fighting Owls quickly answered though, with back to back points in the paint off a Jerry Santos lay-up and Tom Granado jumper, and just like that were back up by 19 after another pair of Phifer free-throws.
San Jose would make one final push half way through the second half, when a Stevone Jones jumper cut the Citrus advantage to 12. Like they had all night, Citrus rallied getting a free-throw from Cameron Khoury and two straight baskets by Keith Thompson, pushing the lead back to 17 and out of the reach of San Jose for good.
In the win, Citrus was led by Thompson who scored a team high 13 points, while Granado ripped down a game high 12 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. With the win, Citrus improves their record to 29-2 and advances to the Final Four. The Fighting Owls will take on South #4 Saddleback College tomorrow night at 7:00 PM in the State Semi-Finals.
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