Basketball Season Ends at Saddleback

Mission Viejo, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team saw their 2012-2013 season come to an end on Saturday night when they fell to Southern California's #1 seed Saddleback College 78-64.

In a battle of wills, Saddleback imposed theirs early. The Gauchos ran out to a 7-1 lead, only to see the Owls rally back and take their first lead of the game 8-7 after a layup from sophomore Brent Watkins. Saddleback scored on their next possession, and hung onto the lead until 4:02 was left in the half and sophomore Steven Thornton Jr. drilled a corner three that put the Owls back on top 23-22. Saddleback closed the half on an 8-0 run though, as went into the break up 30-23.

Citrus came out of the half, and scored the first five points all off the hands of Thornton Jr. who made it 28-30 after another three ball this time from the wing. The Gauchos went on to score eight of the next nine points though and their lead was again comfortable. The Owls' last best run would come with just over four minutes to go. Freshman Terrell Todd hit a three that cut the Saddleback lead to eight, but the Owls would never get any closer, as Saddleback hit most of their free-throws down the stretch and Citrus failed to get any real good offensive looks.

Carter would finish with a team high 20 points in the loss, and Thornton added 17. With the loss, Citrus' season ends with a 16-11 record.