Where it Counts

Lancaster, CA - When the Citrus College Men's Basketball team travelled to Antelope Valley College, looking for its first victory in Lancaster since the Marauders joined the WSC four years ago, they knew they would have a tough task on their hands.

By all measures, Antelope outplayed the Owls, shooting a better clip from the field, out-rebounding Citrus, dominating the points in the paint battle, and getting 13 more bench points. Citrus led where it counted most though, committing seven fewer turnovers, and out-doing the Marauders in the points off turnovers battle 17-12 as they won for the first time in a long time at Antelope Valley 80-75.

In a game where no one took control until late in the contest, the two teams exchanged the lead back and forth on 16 different occasions, and the score was tied another 12 times. Antelope never had a lead bigger than four points, and Citrus' biggest lead (eight points), didn't come until there was seven seconds left in the game.

The last and most important lead change of the game would come with 2:41 to go in the game. After Antelope briefly took the lead back for themselves on their previous possession, and 3:16 left, sophomore Calvin Martin took a pass from freshman Jeremy Smith and sank a jumper to make it 71-70. When the Marauders took the ball down the floor the next time, sophomore Tyler LaCour ripped the ball from the AVC player, and passed it up ahead to Smith who got into the lane and laid the ball up and in off the glass to make it a 3-point lead.

Looking for another stop, Citrus got just that, when Martin drew a charge in the lane, forcing yet another Marauder turnover. With a chance to extend their lead, Smith rolled off a screen by Martin, and then kicked the ball out to a wide open LaCour who rattled home a huge three to make it a six-point lead. Citrus would force yet another turnover on defense, and freshman Andrew Ammann would hit the front end of two free-throws to make it a seven point lead. AVC would never get closer than six over the final 38 seconds, with the exception of a three nearly at the buzzer by the Marauders, as Citrus sealed the huge win.

In the win, Citrus was paced by Smith's team high 22 points, including a perfect 10 for 10 mark at the charity stripe. Smith also handed out seven assists and didn't commit a single turnover. Sophomore Kenneth Cyprian added 15, while LaCour had 11.

With the win, Citrus improves to 18-5 and 3-1 in WSC East play. The Owls will close out the first half of conference play on Saturday night when they host a hot Barstow College team at 3:00 PM.