Ripped Out

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team battled all the way back from an eight point halftime deficit to go up by two on visiting and State #15 Glendale College with 2:03 to go. The Owls had their heart ripped out though as they watch the Vaqueros tie the game up with 43 seconds left and then hit a game winner with 0.4 seconds left on the clock as Citrus fell 72-69.

Wednesday's game started off at a promising clip with both teams trading baskets at the tip. The game was tight for the first five minutes, with the score getting knotted up five separate times, and the lead changing hands twice. Glendale began to pull away early though when they used a 14-2 run to go up 23-25-13 with 10:58 left in the first half. The Vaqueros would extend their lead to as much as 13 points with 3:53 left in the first half, but the Owls closed the final two minutes with a mini 7-2 run to make it respectable at the break trailing 26-34.

In the second half, Citrus looked like a different team. The Owls scored the first eight points and quickly got the Glendale lead down to one. Things looked bleak shortly thereafter though when freshman Chris Reyes picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the half. Citrus responded though in a way in never had before. The Owls went punch for punch with the Vaqueros, keeping the game close until they finally took the lead on a trey by freshman John Roach with 10:59 to go that made it 48-46.

The lead would change hands eight more times over the final ten minutes, including a stretch late when the two teams traded three pointers on four consecutive possessions. The final trey, a basket by sophomore Daniel Cheek put Citrus back on top 67-65 with 2:39 to go. Glendale answered on their next possession with a pair of free-throws, but freshman Dominique Walker came through on the Owls' next trip, coming up with an offensive rebound and lay-up that put Citrus in front 69-67 with 2:03 to go.

That would be the last points for the Owls for the rest of the game. Citrus got a stop on Glendale's next offensive possession, but the Owls didn't convert on their end of the floor, giving the Vaqueros another chance with 55 seconds to go. Glendale went to the hoop on their next trip, and they got to the free-throw line where they tied it up with 43 seconds left. On Citrus' next offensive trip, the Owls turned it over again, giving the Vaqueros on final chance with 12 seconds to go. Glendale inbounded the ball to Jalen Etienne who took the ball the length of the floor and threw up a wild three that fell with less than a second to go.

In the loss, Citrus was led by Reyes who scored a team high 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Cheek and Roach both added 10 off the bench. With the loss, Citrus drops to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in WSC South play. Citrus is back home on Saturday when they host Bakersfield College at 5:00 PM.