Doing It On Defense

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team picked up what is arguably it's best win of the year on Saturday when they knocked off State #4 and SoCal #2 Antelope Valley College 61-60. The Owls did it on the defensive end, holding the Marauders to just 39.2% shooting from the floor and outrebounding Antelope Valley 35-28.

Despite the final outcome, it was Antelope Valley who came storming on to the court. The Marauders scored six of the first seven points of the contest, and seemingly had the momentum early after a dunk off a back door pass. Citrus didn't panic though and settled in on defense and played efficient offense. A three pointer by freshman Justin Childress with 16:09 to go tied the game up at six, keeping the Marauders within striking distance until the Owls were able to take the lead for themselves.

Citrus would take over the lead with 11:12 left in the first half when a thunderous dunk by freshman Chris Reyes made it 12-11 in favor of the Owls. Freshman Jordan Jefferson followed that up with a three ball, and Citrus was off and running. Citrus would slowly but surely put some distance between them and Antelope and went into the half up 31-23.

The Owls kept it rolling in the second half pushing their lead to 17 after a pair of free-throws from Reyes with 13:51 to go made it 46-29. Antelope Valley wasn't going to go away quietly though, as they slowly whittled away at the Citrus lead. The Marauders battled all the way back to tie the game up at 59 all with 58 seconds to go. On Citrus' next possession, the Owls got the ball into Reyes who was fouled and calmly sank both free-throws to put Citrus up 61-59 with 29 seconds left.

On Antelope's next trip down the floor, they too drew a foul, getting a chance to tie the game up with four seconds left. The Marauder's hit the first free-throw, but missed the second with Citrus sophomore Daniel Cheek coming up with the rebound with less than three seconds to go. Cheek was fouled, missed both free-throws, but came up with his own rebound to seal the win for Citrus.

In the win, Citrus was led by Cheek's game high 15 points. Cheek also matched a season personal high of seven rebounds. Reyes posted his 11th double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Childress had 11 points, and five assists for the Owls.

With the win, Citrus improves to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in WSC South play. The Owls will try to keep things going on Wednesday when they host Los Angeles Valley College at 7:00 PM.