The Hard Way

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team closed out their 2014-2015 regular season home slate on Saturday afternoon when they hosted Los Angeles Valley College. The Owls won, but they did it the hard way, trailing for the vast majority of the second half until a late surge gave them an 85-74 victory.

Citrus jumped out to the early lead in the game, scoring nine of the first twelve points. The Owls would maintain that lead until late in the first half, when a Monarch run put Valley up 42-34 with 2:20 left until halftime. Citrus turned it on in the final two minutes as they closed out the half on a 9-2 run, taking a 45-44 lead after freshman Mark Williams had a tip-in at the buzzer fall through the hoop.

LA Valley would come out in the second half and score the first basket, and hold onto the lead for the next 12 plus minutes. Citrus would briefly regain the lead after a lay-up by freshman Ryan Wiley made it 67-66 with 7:03 to go, but Valley scored the next four points to go back on top.

With 3:43 left, LA Valley would still lead 72-69. That's when Citrus flipped the switch. The Owls would go on to score 15 unanswered points to change the course of the game and go on to win by 11. In the win, Citrus was led sophomore John Roach who scored a team high 25 points, 19 of which came in the first half. Wiley continued his hot stretch of play by pouring in 22 and grabbing 10 boards, while Williams also earned a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds off the bench.

With the win, Citrus improves 16-8 overall and 9-3 in WSC South play. The Owls will hit the road for their final two regular season contests this coming week, beginning with a trip to College of the Canyons on Wednesday for a 5:00 PM tip.