Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Men’s Basketball team had their Western State Conference home opener on Saturday evening. The Owls jumped out to a big lead against visiting College of the Canyons and then hung on for an 85-81 win over the Cougars.
Canyons would score the first points of the contest, but Citrus responded by going on a 9-2 run capped off by a lay-up from freshman Kendrick Thomas that gave the Owls an early 9-4 lead. The Cougars would keep things close over the next four minutes, but a big run jump started by a steal and fast-break layup by sophomore Nolan Abernathy saw Citrus go up 26-12 after sophomore James Walker capped things off with a transition three.
Citrus’ lead would continue to grow over the first half, reaching 17 points a couple of times and a first half high 18 points after a three ball from freshman Royal Mathews with just over two minutes to go. The Owls would eventually settle in for a 17-point 47-30 lead at the break. The Owls’ comfortable lead was thanks in large part to their defense which led to 20 points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes, compared to none for College of the Canyons.
In the second half, Citrus lead would balloon to as large as 25 points halfway through. The Owls would see that lead slowly dwindle away though. Walker would hit a jumper with 7:41 to go in the game that made it 83-60. That score would be Citrus’ last field goal of the game. The Owls would only score two more points the rest of the way, with both points coming from the charity stripe.
Despite the offense disappearing, the Owls did just enough as they hung on for the four point victory. Sophomore Brandon Parga scored a team high 17 points in the game while Walker had 15, and Mathews 16 off the bench. Abernathy would fill up the stat sheet for Citrus with seven points, eight assists, and four steals.
With the win, Citrus improves to 15-1 on the year and 2-0 in Western State Conference South Division play. The Owls will be back on the road on Wednesday when they take on LA Valley College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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