The Difference

Glendora, CA - The Citrus College Men's Basketball team closed out their non-conference schedule on Thursday evening at home when they hosted Mt. San Antonio College. Both teams had struggled as of let headed into the match-up, but the Mounties were the team with the difference maker. That difference maker came in the form of sophomore guard Lamarquis Thompson who came up with big play after big play for the Mounties, something the Owls lacked in their 68-75 loss. 

 Citrus dug themsleves into an early hole as Mt. SAC scored the game's first six points. Sophomore Jordan McNellys finally broke the scoring drought three minutes in for the Owls with a pair of free-throws, but the Mounties had early control of the action.

The Owls would try to claw their way back into the game several times throughout the night, including pulling to within two after a triple by McNellys that made it 18-20 with 7:25 let in the half. That didn't last long through as Thompson came right back down and scored via a lay-in and then turned around and turned the Owls over on their very next play leading to a triple by the Mounties and a seven point lead.

Citrus would make another run at the Mt. SAC lead just before the half. trailing by eight, freshman Latrelle Frankling got to the basket and laid the ball up and in to cut it to six. The Owls would get a stop on the Mounties next possession, and then get a huge three pointer from sophomore Jeriko Santos that made it 31-34. Thompson came up big again though for the Mounties hitting a three of his own just before the half as Citrus went into the break trailing 37-31.

In the second half, the Mounties opened things up with a 11-0 run and held the Owls scoreless for the first five minutes of action. A lay-up by sophomore Mark Williams finally put the Owls on the board in the second half, but Citrus had a long way to go. Mt. SAC would work their way up to their largest lead less than half way through when they went up by 19 after a layup by of course Thompson with 13:14 left.

Despite their struggles, Citrus never really gave up on the game and tried their best to work themselves back in. They would get the Mountie lead back down to single digits, but every time they looked like they were going to make a big move or go on a huge run, Mt. SAC would come up with a big score.

In the loss, Citrus was led by Franklin who had a team high 15 points off the bench to go along with a game high eight assists. Williams added 12, while McNellys had 13. Freshman Calvin Martin was the closest Owl to double figures in rebounds with seven.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 6-7 on the season. The Owls will be out of action until after the new year when they open up Western State Conference South Division play with a very good Bakersfield College squad. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM on Wednesday January 6th.