Culver City, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- For seven seconds it looked like the Citrus College Men’s Basketball team’s hopes of an undefeated conference season was lost. That’s when freshman point guard Brandon Woods picked his team up and led them through the woods and into the open as he hit a buzzer beating half court shot that gave the Owls a 98-96 win at West LA in overtime on Saturday night.
Things started off well enough for the Owls as they led from pretty much the tip. West LA would keep it close though, never allowing Citrus’ lead to grow to double-digits. The Owls’ largest leads of the half would be eight points and seven points respectively, but each time the Wildcats clawed back and were able to keep it close.
The second time West LA made a move and they took the lead back for themselves. The Wildcats grabbed their first lead with 1:15 to go and grew it to five points before the end of the half, going into the break up 41-36.
The second half would be a wild back and forth affair. The lead was exchanged 13 times and the game was all knotted up another 10 times. Neither team took control of the contest, and neither team scored in the final 1:17 of the second half sending the game into overtime tied up at 86-86.
In the extra period, again no team was able to really take control. West LA would have the early lead, but a 6-0 run by Citrus jumpstarted thanks to a layup from freshman Kerry Carter and capped off by a layup from freshman Kendrick Thomas saw the Owls go up two 92-90 with 2:21 to go.
West LA would answer on their next possession, and Citrus would go back up by one on their next trip down the floor when Woods hit the back end of a pair of free-throws. West LA did the same moments later tying the game back up at 93 all with 1:21 left in overtime. Neither team would find offensive success for nearly a minute until Thomas came up with a huge pair of free-throws with 27 seconds left to put Citrus up 95-93.
On their final possession the Wildcats went down the floor and attacked the basket with 12 seconds on the clock. The layup by West LA’s Rodney Blackmon missed but Citrus wasn’t able to corral the ball and possession was given back to West LA. On the inbound Blackmon threw up a desperation fade-away three that went off the backboard and through the net putting Citrus down 96-95 with just seven seconds to go.
That’s when Woods came to the rescue. Woods took the ball on the inbound dribbled four times and threw up the shot just inside the half court line. The ball went in as the buzzer sounded, and Citrus’ flawless conference record stayed intact.
Woods would finish with 19 points for Citrus and four steals. Sophomore James Walker poured in a team high 22 points, while freshmen Kerry Carter and Keyon Sayles added 16 and 13 respectively. Freshman Kendrick Thomas easily had his best game of the season, notching his second double-double of the year with 20 points and 13 rebounds, both season highs for Thomas.
With the win, Citrus improves to 18-1 overall and 5-0 in Western State Conference South Division play. The Owls will be at home next week for a pair of contests beginning on Wednesday when they host Santa Monica College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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