Owls Pull Out Win at Santa Monica

Santa Monica, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team opened up Western State Conference South Division play on Wednesday evening with a 69-65 win over host Santa Monica College. The Owls trailed by as much as ten points in the second half, but pulled out the victory to improve to 1-0 in conference play.

The game was close nearly throughout the entirety of the contest. Neither team built up a double-digit lead in the first half, and the two teams entered the break knotted up at 33. In the second half, it was Santa Monica who came out fast, building up an early lead and pushing it to double-digits 58-48 with just over six minutes to go. The Owls buckled down on the defensive end of the floor and made some baskets and got to the free-throw line down the stretch to switch narratives and swing momentum back on their side for the four point win. In the final two minutes of the game freshman Mark Williams was solid at the stripe, hitting five of his last six shots from the free-throw line.

In the win, Citrus was paced by sophomore John Roach's team high 19 points. Sophomore Dominique Walker added 15, while Williams had a season high 14, to go along with six rebounds. Sophomore Chaunce Hill rounded out the highlights with his second straight double-double with 11 points, to go along with 17 boards.

With the win, Citrus moves to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in WSC South play. The Owls open up their home conference schedule on Saturday when they host Glendale College (1-11, 0-1) at 5:00 PM.