Owls Make It Three Straight With Win In Conference Opener

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team made it three straight wins on Wednesday night, matching a season high winning streak. The Owls opened up Western State Conference South Division play with a win over visiting Glendale College 69-60.

For a team that has been able to light up the scoreboard for the most part this year, it was the Owls' defense that keyed the victory over a tough Vaquero squad. Citrus started the game off 1 for its first 11 attempts from the field and saw themselves trail Glendale 12-3 just over seven minutes into the game.

The Owls didn't panic though, and instead went to work on the defensive side of the ball, as the defense began to lead to points for Citrus. Sophomore Gregory Sequele got the ball rolling scoring Citrus' first points in over two minutes with a dunk that ignited the rest of the team.

The Owls would then force Glendale into turnovers on three of their next four possessions, and before they knew it Citrus was trailing by just two points 16-14 after a pair of free-throws from sophomore Jordan Mackie.

Glendale kept Citrus at bay for a little while longer, but the Owls couldn't be held back for long. A small 9-2 run over three minutes for the Owls kick started by a triple from Mackie and capped off by a lay-up from sophomore Kerry Carter saw the Owls take their first lead of the night and go up 23-19. The Vaqueros would keep it close, but Citrus would go into the break up 27-23.

Citrus continued to keep control of the game in the second half. Despite having control of the contest, their lead never reached double digits and their largest lead until the final seconds was just eight points after a pair of free-throws from sophomore Steven Thornton Jr. made it 58-50 with 6:35 on the clock.

Glendale would get Citrus' lead down as little as four points in the final 2:30, but Mackie made three of four free-throws for the Owls down the stretch and dunk from Carter would seal Glendale's fate in a nine point win for Citrus.

With the win, Citrus improves to 8-6 on the year and 1-0 in conference play. The Owls will have a big early test on Saturday afternoon when they hit the road to take on College of the Canyons, who many think may be the favorite for the WSC South crown after Citrus' slow start.  Tip-off for that important early conference contest is set for 3:00 PM.