Owls' Offense Too Much for Monarchs

The Citrus College Men's Basketball team defeated LA Valley College last night 122-67 to grab their second conference win of the season. 

Last night's game was originally scheduled for last Wednesday, January 8th, but was postponed due the local wildfires and wind conditions.  

Citrus College moves to 14-2 overall on the season and 2-0 in conference games, while LA Valley College drops to 4-10 overall on the season and 0-1 in conference games. 

The 55-point win was the largest margin of victory in recent program history as the Owls put on an impressive shooting and defensive display. Citrus College went on multiple scoring runs in the first half, bolstered by defensive plays leading to fast break buckets and three-pointers. The Owls carried a 67-27 lead into halftime after connecting on 11-of-19 three-pointers, led by Malik Khouzam who went 7-of-9 from three-point range in the opening half. 

Citrus College continued their defensive and scoring efforts in the second half with their largest lead reaching 59 points with 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Owls shot 52.9% from the field, knocking down 20-of-40 three-pointers while limiting the Monarchs to 40.7% from the field and 1-of-12 from three-point range. Citrus outscored LA Valley in points off turnovers (39-10), second chance points (26-0), points in the paint (36-16), fastbreak points (14-2) and bench scoring (67-28). 

The Owls saw 13 of their players score with six players in double figures as Malik Khouzam led the way with an impressive 25 points on 8-of-14 from three-point range. Khouzam added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Blake Ballard scored 17 points and added three rebounds, three steals and one assist. Brady Cook came off the bench to score 16 points on 5-of-6 from the field while adding two assists, one rebound and one steal. KJ Perry scored 14 points with four assists, four rebounds and four steals. Tyler Isaak scored 12 points, had a game-high nine rebounds, and added four assists and one steal. Ryan Raad went 3-of-6 from three on his way to 12 points and five rebounds. 

Citrus College will look to build on their recent conference success as they host College of Canyons tomorrow night, Wednesday, January 15th at 7 p.m.