Cyprian’s Career Night Carries Owls Past Rams

Glendora, CA - Sophomore Kenneth Cyprian scored a career high 29 points, and matched a career high by hitting seven treys on Wednesday night when the Citrus College Men's Basketball team hosted Victor Valley College. Cyprian's career night, helped carry the Owls past the visiting Rams 85-61. 

 It would take some time for Citrus to get going on the night. For large portions of the first half, it looked as if the Owls were suffering from a hangover after Saturday's overtime loss to Los Angeles Valley College that knocked Citrus out of the State Top 20 for the first time all year. Despite that, Citrus did start out on a 7-0 run, but Victor Valley quickly rallied and would tie the game up at 12-12 with 13:29 to go in the first half. 

That's when things looked the bleakest for the Owls as Citrus missed four straight attempts for the field and had a turnover on their next five chances, while Victor Valley briefly surged ahead 14-12 on a fast-break layup. Citrus would again come up empty on their next four looks from the floor, but finally tied the game back up at 14-14 after a tip-in by sophomore Tyler LaCour with 10:19 to go. After the two teams would trade possessions that went nowhere, freshman Quintin Bailey put the Owls back on top with a layup after a steal by Cyprian and off a pass from freshman Jeremy Smith. 

Victor Valley would go on to tie the game backup on their next trip down the floor, but Citrus responded with one of Cyprian's seven threes to regain the lead, and they would never relinquish it the rest of the way. From that point forward, the Owls outscored the Rams 26-11 to close out the first half, taking a 42-27 lead into the break. 

In the second half, Citrus went right back to Cyprian who scored Citrus' first 11 points of the final frame, as the Owls pushed their lead to 20 points after Cyprian completed a fast-break layup off a steal and assist by freshman Kyle Gray. The Owls' lead was never really in question for the remainder of the game, as their edge reached a game high 25 points with just under five to play and never dipped below 15 points as Citrus cruised to their 8th 20+ point victor of the year. 

Freshman Jeremy Smith was the only other Owl in double figures on the night, scoring 15 points. Sophomore Calvin Martin would be responsible for a game high eight rebounds, while sophomore Donn-Christian Corbin matched a game high six assists off the bench for Citrus, and did so without committing a single turnover. 

With the win, Citrus moves to 16-5 on the year and 1-1 in WSC East play. The Owls will hit the road on Saturday when they travel to SoCal #15 Glendale College (11-8, 1-1). Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM. ​