Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- At times this season, the #2 seeded Citrus College Men’s Basketball team has had two very different sides to them. In the beginning when they were still trying to find their identity they were very much like The Ugly Duckling. They knew there was a beautiful swan waiting to develop, and in the middle of the season Citrus played as such. Lately though, the Ugly Duckling has been rearing its ugly head again, including in tonight’s 81-65 win over #18 Santa Ana College.
Santa Ana came into tonight’s game ready to play, and took Citrus out of its rhythm from the very beginning. It showed early, as the Fighting Owls were ice cold from the field in the first half, missing their first 10 field goal attempts. While Citrus missed, the Dons took advantage jumping out to an early 11-1 lead after a tip-in by Wendell Wright.
The Fighting Owls would finally settle down a bit, and shots started to fall as Citrus slowly clawed their way back into the contest. Citrus would get the Don’s lead down to one point three different times between the 12:41 and 11:40 mark, but each time Santa Ana had an answer.
Santa Ana pushed their lead back up to six points, but Citrus finally made a big charge using an 8-0 run to grab their first lead of the night at 25-23 after a Tom Granado lay-up with just over five minutes to go. The two teams would trade baskets on the next two possessions as Santa Ana tied it up at 27 a piece. Citrus then scored eight of the final ten points of the half to take a 35-29 lead into the break.
Santa Ana opened up the second period by scoring the first two buckets of the half cutting the lead down to two points. Citrus kept getting just enough though as they went on a 10-2 run to take a nine point advantage, their largest of the night, after another Granado lay-up.
The Fighting Owls would finally push their lead to double-digits when Derrick Rodgers found the bottom of the net on a jumper in the paint that made the score 56-46 with just over 10 minutes to go, but Citrus never really seemed like themselves the entire night, eventually going on to win by 16.
In the win, Citrus was led by sophomore De’Andre Haskins who posted his first double-double of the season with a team high 17 points and game high 12 rebounds. Fellow soph Tom Granado matched Haskins rebound total with 12 boards and chipped in with 12 points, while freshman Hakeem Washington scored 10 points and had a six assists.
With the win, Citrus improves to 27-2 overall while Santa Ana’s season comes to a close with a 13-15 record. The Fighting Owls move on to the Regional Finals where they will host #7 Cuesta College (26-5). Tip-off will be at 7:00 PM next Saturday March 6th.
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