Owls Break Scoring Record While Hosting Holiday Classic

The Citrus College Men's Basketball team hosted the annual Citrus College Men's Basketball Holiday Classic over the weekend, picking up wins in both their games. 

The Owls opened the Holiday Classic against Cerro Coso College on Friday, December 6th, defeating the Coyotes 108-82. Citrus College held a 45-34 lead at halftime before cruising in the second half, outscoring Cerro Coso by 15 points. Citrus College went 13 for 26 from three-point range while forcing 20 turnovers, scoring 22 points off Coyote turnovers. The Owls got 47 points off the bench, led by Ryan Raad who hit four three-pointers, scoring 16 points with a team-high four steals and three assists. Brady Cook also contributed off the bench, scoring 16 points with eight rebounds, one assist and one steal. Starting guard, Tyler Isaak led the Owls in scoring with 18 points adding six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Blake Ballard scored 15 points, KJ Perry scored 13 points, while Amiri Meadows scored 11 points with four assists, four rebounds and one steal. 

After defeating Cerro Coso, the Owls, at 7-2 overall on the season, went into a Saturday night matchup with Santiago Canyon, who improved their record to 8-2 after beating San Diego Miramar on Friday. The last game of the Citrus College Men's Basketball Holiday Classic was an instant classic as the Owls and Hawks battled into triple-overtime with Citrus College earning the 134-126 win. The game had a playoff intensity as Citrus and Santiago Canyon traded buckets the entire game with 25 ties and 21 lead changes, while neither team held a lead larger than nine points. 

Tied at 96-96 at the end of regulation, attendees and viewers were awarded with an exciting overtime period that nearly ended with an Owls buzzer-beating shot but ended up being tied at 106-106 forcing double-overtime. 

The Owls and Coyotes both scored eight points in the second overtime period. Neither team could find the game-winning bucket in the last minute of the game as a 114-114 score initiating triple-overtime. After the Hawks took the lead on a free throw, Pejan Slater scored a and-one layup which shifted the momentum as the Owls held onto their lead in triple-overtime, earning the 134-126 win. 

The 134 points scored on Saturday night were the most points scored in Citrus College Men's Basketball program history. The Owls went 43-82 from the field and 9-28 from three point-range while hitting 39 of 48 free throws. Citrus College was led by a historic scoring effort from KJ Perry who tied the program record for points scored in a game at 48, the most since Josh Caston scored 48 against Long Beach City in 2019. Perry set the school record for most field goals made in a game at 14, the most since Tyree Wilborn's 13 against College of the Canyons in 2020. Along with Perry's 48 points he added a team-high five assists, three steals, one rebound and one block. Tyler Isaak scored 23 points with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Pejan Slater scored 19 points with eight rebounds and three assists. Brady Cook scored 18 points off the bench with a team-high 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal. Blake Ballard scored 12 points with four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Ryan Raad scored six points off the bench, hitting two clutch three-pointers. Amiri Meadows, who recorded a game-high four steals made timely defensive plays alongside Brandon Suber who recorded two steals.  

At 8-2 overall Citrus College hopes to carry the momentum of Saturday's triple-overtime win into their next game at Cerritos College this Friday, December 13th at 7 p.m.