Paint Wars

Glendora, CA -- If you take a look back on the box score from Saturday night's tilt between the Citrus College Men's Basketball program and visiting SoCal #12 West Los Angeles College, you'd notice right away what the difference maker was. The Owls were outshot percentage wise at the 3-point arc and free-throw line, and turned the ball over three more times than their opponents. Citrus did however win the paint war, outscoring the Wildcats 28-16 in the middle and outrebounding West LA 46-32, including a 18-7 edge on the offensive glass in a big 58-52 victory for Citrus.

The game was a seesaw battle throughout the night. The game would be tied on three separate occasions and the lead would exchange hands 10 different times. West LA would snag an early lead going on a 7-0 run after sophomore Justin Childress opened up the night with the games first point hitting the front end of two free-throws. Citrus rallied from the 7-1 deficit with a 11-1 run that saw the Owls overtake the lead after a three from freshman Jordan McNellys that made it 12-7.

The contest would continue in waves like that throughout the first half, with West LA briefly taking a 26-25 lead, before Citrus closed out the half on a 6-2 run to take a 31-28 lead into the break. The Owls would keep that momentum going in the early part of the second half pushing their lead to the largest of the night at 10 points after a jumper by freshman Tyler LaCour.

West LA could have gone quietly into the night after Citrus' second half opening, but to their credit, they didn't. The Wildcats stormed all the way back and pulled to within one with 8:45 left. The Owls answered the bell via a trey from the right wing by Childress, but Citrus knew they were in for a fight. The Wildcats would keep the game in striking distance for the remainder of the contest, getting back to within two with 5:46 to go and even all the way down to one with 36 seconds left.

Citrus just went back to work in the paint, and found their way to the free-throw line where they iced the game. The most important play of the game arguably came after they got to the charity stripe up by one. Childress would step to the line and hit the first, before missing the second. Childress made a heads up play though and crashed into the lane, pulling out his own rebound, before getting back to the free-throw line seconds later, hitting two free-throws and putting the Owls up by four. Citrus would get stops on each of the West LA's next two positions, while sophomore Dominique Walker and LaCour combined to go 2 for 4 from the free-throw line, closing out the game

In the win, Citrus was paced by Childress' game high 16 points, 10 of which came in the second half. LaCour added 15 off the bench, while sophomore Chaunce Hill posted his second straight double-double with 12 points and a game high 12 boards.

With the win, Citrus moves to 11-7 overall and in sole possession of second place in the WSC South at 4-2. The Owls have another tall task on their hands this coming Wednesday when they host College of the Canyons (11-8, 3-3). Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.