San Bernardino Pulls Away Late; Owls Eliminated from Riverside Tournament

Riverside, CA -- While the outcome wasn't what they were looking for, the Citrus College Men's Basketball team proved something to themselves in their match-up with State #4 San Bernardino Valley College. The Owls proved they could hang with the best in the State, as the Wolverines needed a late run and close to perfect shooting to eliminate the Owls from the Riverside Holiday Tournament with a 87-76 win.

San Bernardino landed the first blow in Thursday's tussle, jumping out to an 18-6 lead with 11:27 to go in the first half. Citrus didn't panic though and slowly worked it's way back into the game using a 15-3 run started by a three pointer from sophomore Mark Williams and ended on a three from sophomore Jordan McNellys that tied the game up at 21-21.

San Bernardino would push back at to a six point lead, but Citrus again clawed back in, briefly taking a one point 31-30 lead off a lay-up by Williams. A last second three by San Bernardino would put the Wolverines back on top 33-31 headed into the break, but Citrus had let it be known they weren't going to back down.

In the second half, Citrus would take over the lead two minutes in thanks to another trey by McNellys that made it 38-37. The Owls would build their lead to as much as five points after a lay-up by freshman Teeqwaun James made it 46-41. Citrus would hang on to that lead until San Bernardino retook it with 10:08 left in the game. The Owls would briefly regain the lead on a jumper by James that made it 52-51 with 9:47 left, but the Wolverines answered with a 12-0 run and never looked back.

In the win, Citrus was a respectable 45.9% from the floor and 45.5% from the three point line. That paled in comparison to San Bernardino though who shot 64.4% from the field and was 10 of 11 (90.9%) from beyond the 3-point arc.

In the loss, Citrus was paced by Williams, fellow soph Ryan Wiley, and freshman Kenneth Cyprian who all scored 15 points. Wiley threw in a team best six boards, while sophomore Caleb Richey had a game high nine assists. McNellys rounded out the double-figure scoring nights with 13 points.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 6-6 on the year. The Owls have one more non-conference contests remaining on their 2015-2016 schedule, and that comes next week when Citrus plays host to Mt. San Antonio College (4-7) next Thursday December 17th, at 6:00 PM.