Finally Earning Their Coffee

Valley Glen, CA - In the classic 1992 drama Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin's character exclaims the famous line, "coffee's for closers only". If that's the case, the Citrus College Men's Basketball team may have finally earned their coffee on Wednesday night when they closed out a tough Los Angeles Valley College squad with a 76-72 victory.

LA Valley jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the game, but that was just the start of things to come. Over the course of 40 minutes, the score would be tied up seven separate times and the lead would change hands a total of 15 times. The Owls first lead would be brief, and would come less than four minutes in thanks to a triple from sophomore Caleb Richey. LA Valley would regain the lead on their next possession, but Citrus did the same after a three-point play by sophomore Mark Williams.

The Owls would continue to hang on to that lead for the next 13 minutes or so, taking a lead as large as 10 points at the 10:50 mark after a lay-in by Richey made it 27-17. That lead wouldn't last through the half, as the Monarchs would take it back for a minute at the 3:47 mark, before taking it back for good at the close of the half with 1:13 left. Valley would go into the break, up 47-44.

Citrus would come out of the gate strong in the second half, scoring the first seven points, getting a field goal and three from Williams and a jumper from sophomore Ryan Wiley to make it 51-47 with 18:23 left. From there until pretty much the minute mark left in the game, it was a seesaw match, with the lead changing hands six different times and getting tied up on four separate occasions.

The Monarchs' last lead would come with 1:21 on the clock, as they broke a 71-71 tie by hitting the back end of two free-throws to go up one. After a timeout by Head Coach Patrick Johnson, Citrus went inside to Williams via a pass from sophomore Jordan McNellys. Williams laid it up and in off the glass, and Citrus went up 73-72 with 1:05 to play.

On Valley's next possession, Citrus got a stop as the Monarchs missed a three. Freshman Kenneth Cyprian came down with the rebound, but turned it over giving Valley potential another chance. Luckily for Citrus the Monarchs reciprocated turning the ball right back over to Citrus, leading to a layup by Wiley off a pass from Richey with 21 seconds left. Citrus would get another stop on the Monarchs' next possession, and Richey would hit the second of two free-throws after being fouled icing the win for the Owls.

In the win, Williams led all scorers with 22 points and grabbing a game high 11 rebounds. Wiley matched Williams rebound output with 11 of his own, adding 16 points. Richey would be the other Owl to finish with a double digit scoring night, scoring 19, throwing in five board, four assists, and five steals.  

With the win, Citrus improves to 8-10 overall and 2-3 in WSC South play. The Owls will be back at home on Saturday night when they host a hot Glendale College (8-9, 4-1) team that has won four straight games. Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.