Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- The Citrus College Men’s Basketball team’s 96-89 win over LA Valley College on Saturday never seemed in question. It never seemed easy though either, as Valley kept it close until the very end.
LA Valley would actually score the first two points of the game, but Citrus rattled off nine straight shortly thereafter to go up 9-2 after a three pointer off the hands of sophomore James Walker. Citrus would keep it rolling pushing their lead to double digits after a layup from freshman Brent Watkins and a jumper in the paint from freshman Keyon Sayles made it 22-9 with 13:14 left in the half.
Citrus’ lead would grow to as large as 16 points twice around the seven minute mark, both times thanks to made shots by freshman Kendrick Thomas. Valley outscored Citrus 21-11 over the final seven minutes though and Citrus went into the break up by just six points 45-39.
In the second half it was the same idea as Citrus pushed their lead back to double digits with 16:17 to go after a fast break layup by freshman Brandon Woods made it 54-43. The Owls would get their lead all the way up to 19 points with 7:52 left when Walker came flying in for a tip in that made it 76-57.
That’s when Citrus took their foot off the gas. Valley went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to seven. Sophomore Brandon Parga finally broke that up with a big three, but Valley would keep it back in the seven point range for the remainder of the contest getting it all the way down to four with 42 seconds to go. Free-throws by Parga, Woods, and Walker down the stretch though would keep Valley at just a far enough distance to give Citrus the win.
In the win, the Owls were led by Walker’s team high 25 points. Woods nearly finished with a triple double hauling in a team high 11 rebounds, scoring 10 points, and handing out nine assists against just one turnover. Parga and freshman Kerry Carter rounded out the high scorers with 21 and 15 respectively.
With the win, Citrus improves 22-1 overall and 9-0 in WSC South play. The win also guarantees the Owls at least a share of the WSC South title with three games to go. Citrus has a bye on Wednesday, but will look to claim the outright conference championship on the road in Bakersfield on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
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