Statement Game

Glendora, CA - It's been months since the Citrus College Men's Basketball team has even received a vote in the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association SoCal Coaches Poll. Most people have probably looked at the Owls' record and assumed that they were done, not the same program they've always been.

 If you take a close look though, only two of their 12 losses are to teams who haven't received coaches poll votes, and only one was to a team outside the RPI Top 16. After Wednesday's tough last second loss to Antelope Valley College, no one would probably blame the Owls if they rolled over in their final five contests, but Citrus had a statement for the rest of SoCal on Saturday night. They aren't dead yet, as they defeated SoCal #14 Santa Monica College 87-59.

The game would be close for the first 12 minutes or so. Citrus led by just two points, 25-23, after a jumper by the Corsairs with 8:02 to go. That's the closest it would get the rest of the way. Freshman Kenneth Cyprian drilled a triple, and the Owls went on a 21-2 run bookended by a jumper from freshman Calvin Martin that made it 46-25. Santa Monica would finally break up the run with two straight baskets, but a layup by sophomore Mark Williams at the buzzer put Citrus up 48-29 at the break.

Santa Monica would come into the second half with scores in both of their first two possessions. The Owls didn't back down though using a small 8-3 run to push their lead back to 20 plus points. From that point forward, Citrus' lead never dipped below 20 points and the game never felt in jeopardy.

In the win, Citrus was led by Williams' game high 18 points to go along with 12 boards. Cyprian added 15, while sophomore Bishop Hardy had his second straight strong game off the bench with 12 points. Sophomore Jordan McNellys added 11 and a game high six assists. Sophomore Ryan Wiley had 10 points, and Martin rounded out the night with a game high 13 rebounds. 

With the win, Citrus improves to 11-12 overall and 5-5 in WSC South play. The Owls will be back in action on Wednesday night when they take on College of the Canyons at 7:00 PM in Santa Clarita, CA.