Culver City, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- After scoring a season high 14 points against Glendale last Saturday, sophomore Darin Stewart followed it up with a team high 11 points and six rebounds in Citrus’ 85-58 rout at West Los Angeles College on Saturday evening. The Fighting Owls (ranked #1 in the State) shot a blistering 69.2% from the floor in the first half, as they cruised to their 19th victory of the season.
Citrus wasted little time on Saturday night, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the game, taking a 9-2 lead after a Jose River lay-up. The Fighting Owls really opened it up in the first ten minutes of the contest, using a Stewart trey, DeAndre Haskins jumper and pair of Donnel Phifer free-throws to take a commanding 33-7 lead half way through the first half.
West LA would finally get a little bit of offense going outscoring Citrus 19-17 over the final ten minutes of the half, as the Fighting Owls went into the break with a 50-26 advantage. Citrus opened up the second half much like the first using two more Stewart 3-pointers, a Randy Hunter lay-up and Derrick Rodgers tip-in to take their largest lead of the game at 34 points. At that point the game was all but over as the closest West LA would get would be 23 points, before the Fighting Owls eventually won by 27.
Freshman Donnel Phifer would match Stewart’s 11 points, while sophomore Keith Thompson put together one of his more impressive stat lines of the year. Thompson scored seven points, ripped down a game high seven rebounds and matched his season high in blocks and assists with four a piece.
With the win, Citrus improves to 19-2 overall and a perfect 5-0 in WSC South play, while West LA falls to 2-15 overall and 0-6 in conference games. The Fighting Owls will be back at home twice next week beginning with a match-up against Canyons College (12-9, 3-2) on Wednesday evening. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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