A KC Masterpiece

Riverside, CA -- For about 18 of the 20 minutes in the second half of the Citrus College Men's Basketball program's contest with Barstow College on Tuesday afternoon, the Owls were outplayed by the Vikings. That changed in a matter of seconds as freshman Kenneth Cyprian, "KC" to his teammates, put together a masterpiece in the closing seconds with a four-point play that gave Citrus a 77-76 victory over Barstow in the opening round of the 2015 Riverside City College Holiday Tournament.

The game couldn't have gotten off to a better start for the Owls, as Citrus opened the game on a 9-2 run. Citrus looked confident early, hitting shots from the outside against a 3-2 zone by the Vikings, that turned into a 33-19 lead midway through the first half, their largest of the day. It wouldn't last forever though as Citrus began to struggle, scoring just 11 points over the final 10 minutes of first half action, while Barstow would close the gap to four at the break, trailing 40-44.

In the second half, the Vikings came out and threw a right cross that sent the Owls back on their heels. Barstow would take their first lead five minutes into the second frame, and built that lead all the way up to 12 points, up 68-56 with 8:19 to play. Citrus never really gave in though, and  did just enough to keep the game close until a late charge, with Barstow leading by 12 as late as 2:20 to go up 76-64.

That's when the Owls turned up the pressure on defense, falling into a full court trapping press. Cyprian would get Citrus back on track offensively, burying a trey that cut their deficit down to 9. A few possession later, sophomore Ryan Wiley made it eight after hitting the front end of two free-throws with 58 seconds to go. Cyprian would again lead the charge steal the ball just before midcourt and cruising in for a lay-in that cut it down to six. Sophomore Caleb Richey would come up with the next big play, stealing the ball and five seconds later hitting a big three from the top of the key to make it 73-76 with 23 seconds to go.

Needing a big stop, Citrus got that as Barstow failed to get the ball in before a five second call by the officials gave the Owls the ball back. With 14 seconds left on the clock, Richey took the ball down the floor for Citrus, found Cyprian in right corner. With two guys on him, Cyprian raised up was hit on the body, and still managed to bury the triple tying the game and sending him to the line with the chance to take the lead with six seconds left. Cyprian did exactly what he needed, burying the shot from the charity stripe to make it 77-76. The Owls would come up big defensively on Barstow's final possession with Wiley blocking the game winning attempt by the Vikings to seal the victory.

In the win, Wiley led all scorers with 22 points and all rebounders with 14 boards. Cyprian finished with 17, while sophomore Jordan McNellys added 11.

With the win, Citrus improves to 6-4 on the year. The Owls have an even tougher task looming on Wednesday afternoon when they take on State #1 and reigning CCCAA State Champ, Saddleback College (8-1) at 1:00 PM in Riverside.