Owls Lose Thriller in San Diego Semis

San Diego, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team lost their semi-final bout with SoCal #1 Mt. San Jacinto College on Saturday evening in thrilling fashion. The game featured six ties and 15 lead changes, before the Owls eventually fell 83-84.

The game was tight for the first part of the contest, until Mt. San Jacinto started to slowly build a lead midway through the first half. The Eagles would go up by as much as 15 points with 8:34 left in the first half, but the Owls didn't fold. Citrus rallied using a 12-2 run over three minute span to pull within two. Mt. San Jacinto tried to extend that lead in the closing minutes but a three by freshman John Roach with just over a minute to go, would put Citrus down by just four points at the break.

In the second half Citrus came charging out of the gate. Back to back treys by freshmen Chris Reyes and Rohjon Brett gave the Owls their first lead since the start of the game. From that point forward it was a back and forth affair. Citrus would lead as late as the 6:09 mark in the second half after a layup from freshman Jordan Jefferson made it 66-65, and even had it tied at 74-74 after a layup from freshman Justin Childress with 1:12 to go.

Alas, Mt. San Jacinto pulled away late, getting a big three with a minute left and hitting seven of eight free-throws down the stretch to seal the win. Roach would make things interesting with a pair of three balls with 10 seconds and one second on the clock, but it was too little too late for Citrus.

In the loss, Citrus was led by Roach who scored a team high 21 points. Childress added 15, as did Reyes who also reeled in a team high seven boards.

With the loss, Citrus falls to 1-1 on the year. The Owls drop to the third place game in the 2013 Knight's Invitational and will take on the tournament's host San Diego City College tomorrow at 3:00 PM.