On the Board

Glendora, CA - Through three Western State Conference South Division games, the Citrus College Men's Basketball team found themselves in unfamiliar territory. The Owls were winless and losers of six straight headed into Saturday night's contest with College of the Canyons. While it wasn't pretty the Owls got on the board thanks to a 68-62 victory over the visiting Cougars. 

 The game would feature five ties and only three lead changes, but it was close throughout. Canyons would score the game's first points before baskets by sophomore Ryan Wiley and freshman Kenneth Cyprian gave Citrus their first lead, providing the game's first lead change. The Owls would keep the lead for the next 13 minutes, extending it to as much as six points after a lay-up by Wiley made it 15-9.

Canyons would tie the game up twice in that 13 minute span, first at 15-15, and the second at 18-18. The first tie would be answer by a Cyprian triple, but Canyons tied it right back up and then took the lead back for themselves two possessions later 20-18 with 6:55 to go i the first half. It would take more than two minutes for Citrus to put points back up on the board, but when they did they did so by tying up the game on a pair of free-throws by sophomore Mark Williams and taking the lead back for good thanks to a conventional three point play by sophomore Caleb Richey that made it 23-20.

Citrus would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game, but they were never able to get comfortable. At the break, Citrus held a four point lead 29-25. In the second half, Citrus was never able to reach a double-digit lead, with their lead hitting as much as nine points after two free-throws from Cyprian six minutes into the final frame. Canyons would twice pull to within a single point of the Owl lead in the between the seven and six minutes mark. Each time, Citrus managed to pull clear of the Cougars fending off their last best chance to close the gap.

In the win, Citrus was paced by Cyprian's team high 16 points. Williams would add 13 and 10 rebounds, while Wiley had eight and 10 boards. Richey would pour in 11, while sophomore Jordan McNellys had 12 in the victory.

With the win, Citrus improves to 7-10 overall and 1-3 in WSC South play. The Owls will hit the road on Wednesday when they travel to Los Angeles Valley College for a 7:00 PM showdown.