Owls Best Cougars Again

San Luis Obispo, CA -- For the fourth time in the last seven seasons, the Citrus College Men's Basketball team ended the playoff run of Cuesta College. This time, the Owls did it on the road, as #17 Citrus defeated #16 Cuesta 84-67.

Both teams showed some post-season jitters out of the gate, but it was Cuesta who took an early 10-7 lead. The Cougars would hang on to that lead for most of the first half, until the Owls snatched it for themselves thanks to a pair of free-throws from sophomore Kerry Carter that made it 17-16 Citrus.

From that point forward, Citrus never trailed. The Owls built the lead up to as much as 13 points after another pair of free-throws from Carter made it 31-18 with 3:46 to go. Cuesta closed out the half with a little 9-4 run cutting the Owls lead back down to single digits with the score favoring Citrus 35-27 at the break.

Citrus continued to keep the Cougars at arms length in the second half, building a 17 point lead with 9:56 to go after a pair of free-throws from sophomore Jordan Mackie made it 54-37. Cuesta didn't throw in the towel though, cutting the lead down to seven points twice the first time with 5:39 to go and the second with 3:43 on the clock.

With momentum swinging towards Cuesta's way, Carter hit a big transition trey that put the Owls back up 10. From that point forward the lead was never in doubt. Sophomore Gregory Sequele put an exclamation point on things with a thunderous dunk with 2:02 to go that put Citrus back up 13. Cuesta tried fouling to get back into the game, but the Owls hit 13 of 14 free-throws in the final minute fourty-two to seal the win.

Carter finished with a team high 23 for Citrus in the win. Sequele added 15 and six rebounds, while sophomore Steven Thornton Jr. had 12 and Mackie 10. Freshman Darius Middleton handed out six assists, and sophomore Brent Watkins reeled in a game high eight rebounds off the bench.

With the win, Citrus improves to 16-10 overall. The Owls now advance to the second round of the 2013 playoffs where they will travel to Mission Viejo and take on the #1 seed Saddleback College. Tip is set fro 7:00 PM.