Defense Directs Owls Against Long Beach

Rancho Cucamonga, CA - The defense of the Citrus College Men's Basketball team directed their effort against Long Beach City College on Sunday afternoon in the Consolation Championship Game of the 2017 Chaffey Challenge Tournament. The Owls held the Vikings to a season low 46 points, and forced them into 21 turnovers and just 21.4% shooting from the floor in a decisive 81-46 victory.

 Points didn't come easy for either team early in the contest. Midway through the first half, Citrus clung on to a 1-point lead, 10-9 after a three by the Vikings. That three was preceded by a layup by freshman Khalil Williams on Citrus' previous possession, a score that snapped an almost five minute scoreless streak for either team. 

Leading by just one point, and desperately needing to kick their offense into high gear, the Owls finally got back on track after the aforementioned three by Long Beach. Citrus embarked on a 11-0 run that started on a triple by sophomore Tyler LaCour and ended with a pair of free-throws from sophomore Kenneth Cyprian that made it 21-9 with 6:30 to go. 

The Vikings would finally stop the run with a three of their own, but that only started another 11-0 run by the Owls that was finished when Williams got a rebounded and took the ball coast to coast and laid it up and in through traffic to make it 35-12. Citrus would go into halftime leading 37-16, and kept it rolling well into the second half. Citrus' lead never fell below 21 points and swelled to as much as 37 with 4:13 to go in the game. 

Eight players finished with at least five points for the Owls, including a trio of double digit scorers. Freshman Jeremy Smith led the Citrus effort with a team high 17 points, while Williams had 13. Williams also pulled down a team high seven rebounds and added five steals. Rounding out the double digit scoring day's was freshman Joshua Caston who scored a 12 points off the bench for Citrus.

With the win, Citrus moves to 15-4 on the season. With Sunday's game, the Owls conclude their non-conference schedule, and will begin Western State Conference East Division play on Saturday when they travel to Los Angeles Valley College (6-9) for a 3:00 PM tip-off.