Owls Shock #2 San Bernardino Valley

San Bernardino, CA - Headed into the 2016 CCCAA SoCal post-season, very few people would have given the Citrus College Men's Basketball team much chance of getting out of the first round, let alone beating the #2 seed in the second round should they get there. All that mattered was that the Owls themselves believed they belonged, and they proved just that after knocking off #15 Palomar on Wednesday, and then following that up by shocking #2 San Bernardino Valley College 94-91 in overtime on Saturday. 

 The contest would start with San Bernardino Valley scoring the game's first four points. Sophomore Jordan McNellys would put the Owls on the board in their fifth possession of the game via a three pointer. The Wolverines would extend their lead to two after hitting the back end of two free-throws, but the Owls answered by going on a 8-0 run started by a layup from freshman Calvin Martin and finished on a layup by sophomore Ryan Wiley that gave the Owls their first lead of the game as they jumped out in front 11-5. 

The Owls would hold onto that lead for the remainder of the first half and most of the second half, not trailing again until overtime. San Bernardino would make multiple runs at the Owls throughout the first half getting the Citrus lead down to three two times in the final 13 plus minutes. 

The first time Citrus came right back down the floor and got a layup within seconds from freshman Latrelle Franklin and then went on to score six more straight points to keep a healthy lead. The second time came with 4:58 left. That time, the Owls got a triple from freshman Kenneth Cyprian that started an 11-2 run that ended with three free-throws from sophomore Caleb Richey that made it 44-32 with 2:20 to go. The Wolverines would outscore the Owls by three over the final two minutes, but Citrus still went into the break up 46-37. 

Citrus picked up the second half where they left off the first half when sophomore Mark Williams hit a tripe on the Owls' opening possession off a pass from Cyprian. Citrus would continue to keep their lead in healthy territory extended it to a game high 14 points with 17:44 to go after a three from Cyprian. 

The Owls would lead by as much as 11 points as late as 10:30 to go in the game after yet another Cyprian shot from downtown, but the Wolverines weren't going to go away that easily. San Bernardino would go on a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to tie the game up at 70-70, and at that point it was game on. The game would be tied up four more times over the next six minutes, with each time the Owls taking the lead back for themselves. The last time would come with 1:09 on the clock when Williams completed a three-point play to put Citrus back on top 83-80. 

Unfortunately for Citrus, San Bernardino would come back down the floor and complete their own three point play with 1:02 to go to tie the game back up. The Owls would get two looks at taking back the lead in the final 62 seconds, but couldn't convert on either opportunity, while they played stellar defense on the one chance the Wolverines got, forcing them into a turnover. 

In overtime, San Bernardino came out and scored the first six points, and for the first time all night, the Owls were really on their heels. Facing elimination, Citrus responded admirably. Freshman Calvin Martin got the Owls going with a pair of free-throws to cut the deficit to four, and after a steal by Richey on San Bernardino's next possession, McNellys hit a huge three to put the Owls down by one. 

San Bernardino would briefly stop the bleeding with two free-throws to extend their lead back to three, but Richey came back down the floor and drew a foul, hitting two free-throws of his own to get it back down to one. On the Wolverines next possession, the Owls got another stop with Williams bringing down a crucial defensive board. Williams would get the ball to Richey who pushed the ball up the floor and hit a crucial jumper to put the Owls back up 92-91 with 44 seconds to go. 

The Owls would manage to get another stop, avoiding a disaster after San Bernardino positioned themselves for a putback on the initial miss, but the second fell short too and none other than Richey came up with the board. The Owls would find trouble eight seconds later, when Citrus turned the ball over, but San Bernardino's jubilation was short lived as the Wolverine who came up with the steal was stolen from when McNellys returned the favor three seconds later. 

McNellys got the ball up to Cyprian who was fouled and calmly sunk to free-throws. with seven seconds to go. San Bernardino would get a last second three off to try and tie the game, but it came up shy sealing the win for Citrus.  

McNellys would finish with a team high 21 points in the win. Wiley added 18 and a team high eight boards, while Cyprian had 17, and Richey 10 to go along with seven assists (a total matched by Cyprian) and four steals. Martin would finish with 11 off the bench, chipping in with seven rebounds. 

With the win, Citrus improves to 16-13 and to the third round of the 2016 CCCAA SoCal Playoffs. The Owls will travel to #7 Antelope Valley College on Wednesday for a 7:00 PM tip-off. It'll be the third meeting between the two schools this season as Antelope is also a member of the WSC South.