Owls Dig Deep to Defeat Vikings

In a showdown between two ranked teams in the South, No. 3 Citrus College clawed its way to an 83-80 victory over No. 9 Long Beach City College.

The Owls improve to 2-0 on the young year while the Vikings were handed their first loss at 2-1.

Four Owls finished the night in double figures, led by Anthony Tello with 20 points. Uriah Foster followed with 18 points (7-for-9), while Aibigho Ujadughele chipped in 16 points (4-for-7) and Jayden Johnston finished with 15 points.

Citrus dominated the glass, out-rebounding Long Beach 47-to-39. Ujadughele led the efforts off the board with 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double, while Tello was just two boards off a double-double.

The Owls started strong and built a 12-point lead early in the first half, but Long Beach battled back to make things interesting.

Intensity picked up heading down the stretch as the Owls kept trying to create some distance from the Vikings. Long Beach tied the game with just over four minutes left to play, 71-71, but Tello grabbed one of his three steals to send Foster on the fastbreak. Chris Chiles followed with a layup to make it a two-possession game, 75-71, with three minutes remaining.

With just about 30 seconds left on the clock, Long Beach came up big with a deep three-pointer to pull within one point, 81-80.

The Owls called a timeout and the Vikings fouled coming out of the break in hopes of getting the ball. Johnston made his two free throws, however, to jump back in front by three with time winding down.

Long Beach had one last chance on offense and put up another deep trey, but it rattled off the iron, and Foster snatched the rebound to secure the 83-80 victory for the Owls.

Citrus looks to keep building on its momentum and take on another ranked foe, heading to No. 19 Pasadena City College on Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip off.