Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- With #3 Citrus College leading #17 Bakersfield College by just one point and 25 seconds left on the clock, it was an unlikely hero that rose to the occasion for the Fighting Owls. Sophomore Cameron Nettles a 51.3% free-throw shooter on the season, grabbed a big defensive rebound off a Bakersfield miss and got sent to the line for two free-throws. Nettles calmly nailed both giving Citrus a 3-point lead and on the next defensive possession took a charge, ultimately icing the game for the Fighting Owls in their 84-80 win over the Renegades.
Despite the final outcome it was Citrus who struggled in the early going. The Fighting Owls missed their first five attempts from the field and found themselves trailing the Renegades 8-1 after a pair of Bobby Fisher free-throws gave them a seven point lead with 16:04 to go. That’s when Citrus got things going thanks to a Jose Rivera trey that kick started 7-0 run. Unfortunately for the Fighting Owls, Bakersfield had a 7-0 run of their own pushing their lead back to 15-8 after an EJ Kirby lay-up.
Bakersfield would continue to lead for the next ten minutes leading by four with 5:22 to go when Citrus made another big move. Freshman Hakeem Washington would be the spark Citrus needed scoring on back to back possessions to tie the game up at 28 all. The Renegades’ Fisher came back with down the floor with a jumper, but another three by Rivera gave Citrus their first lead of the night at 31-30.
Kirby would respond for Bakersfield with a lay-up that gave them the lead back briefly, but a Tom Granado lay-up off a Washington assist and another 3-point bomb by Rivera would give Citrus a 4-point lead, their second and largest lead of the night. The teams would battle back and forth over the final three minutes, with Citrus taking a 40-37 advantage into the break.
Things continued to stay close in the second half with Bakersfield briefly retaking the lead after a Bart Dandridge three made the score 49-48 in favor of the Renegades and the clock at 14:26. Citrus had an answer for Bakersfield as DeAndre Haskins hit his lone field goal of the night when he drilled a three from the corner that put the Fighting Owls back up by two. Citrus would continue to build on that, growing their lead to 10 points, the largest of the night by either team, after another Rivera three made the score 69-59 with 8:02 to go.
Bakersfield proved why they are so feared though as they battled back tying the game up on a Kirby lay-up at 77-77 with 2:56 to go. Citrus, who had been shaky at the line all night, got sent to the line on back to back possessions and got a pair of free-throws from both Haskins and Washington that pushed their lead back to four.
After both teams traded missed field goals, Bakersfield’s Fisher and Kirby got them back into the game with a free-throw and tip-in respectively that cut Citrus’ lead to one at 81-80. On the Fighting Owls next possession Citrus turned the ball over when Rivera’s pass just fell through Randy Hunter’s arms and out of bounds.
With new life, Bakersfield moved quickly down the floor where Chase Adams hoisted up a jumper that glanced off the rim. There for the rebound was Nettles who got fouled in the process, and put the game away for good with his two free-throws.
In the win, Citrus was led by Rivera who scored a team high 16 points and played all but one of the 40 minutes of Saturday night’s game. Freshman guard Hakeem Washington put together one his finest games of the year for the Fighting Owls with 13 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers.
With the win, Citrus improves to 21-2 and a perfect 7-0 in WSC South play, while Bakersfield falls to 18-5 and 4-3 in WSC South games. Saturday night’s game also marked another first for the Citrus College Men’s Basketball program. After guaranteeing their fourth straight 20 win season for the first time in program history on Wednesday, Citrus earned their 90th win in their last 100 games with Saturday night’s victory. That’s the best 100 game stretch in the history of the program.
The Fighting Owls will hit the road on Wednesday when the travel up the 134 to take on 2nd Place LA Valley College (Ranked #15 in the South). Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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