Citrus College men’s basketball ended its five-game win streak with back to back losses at the Citrus College Invitational on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
The Owls lost the first game of the invitational 91-77 to Southwestern College and lost a close game 90-86 against Fullerton College.
Citrus has had to play several tough opponents to open up the season, but by no mistake.
“We have set our schedule up to be one of if not the hardest schedule on purpose, so we like those hard fought battles,” head coach Brett Lauer said. “When you’re beating teams that are not as good, it gives you a false sense of security.”
Fullerton College came into the game with a record of 6-1 and a four-game win streak.
“We beat them earlier in the year at their place and they are ranked maybe No. 2 or 3 in the state so we tried to schedule the hardest teams we could to get battle tested,” Lauer said.
The Owls held onto a double-digit lead throughout the second half until a couple costly fouls and a technical foul sent Fullerton to the line for a three-point swing.
Momentum grew in Fullerton’s favor as they came back to tie the game at 75 at the five-minute mark.
The last four minutes of the game went back and forth as the backcourt for each team could not miss a shot.
“You want to be in some close games and some big time fights,” Lauer said. “When you get into conference and the games like playoffs…they are close then you’ve been there before. You don’t want the first time to be in the biggest moments.”
Citrus freshman guard Colby Orr was unstoppable in the second half scoring 19 of his 32 points. With a little over one minute left in the game Orr drove in and made a contested layup to take the lead by two points.
On the next possession Fullerton guard Lance Coleman drained a three-pointer with a little over 1 minute left in the game.
Orr came back on the next possession, but missed a mid-range jumper and Fullerton rebounded the ball. The rest of the game ended with the Owls playing the foul game, but Fullerton came through with their free throws.
The Owls played a physical game in the first half, recording seven blocked shots during the half.
“Our guys battled hard, it really came down to getting a stop,” Lauer said. “We didn’t get it and they got the stop. They made a play and we didn’t.”
The Owls backcourt was the story of the game with Owls guards Josh Caston, Toby Okwuokei and Orr combining for 63 points.
The Owls record moves to 6-4 on the season. The Owls look to rebound from their back to back losses and will play Santiago Canyon on Dec. 7 at Citrus College.
“Our thing is to get better and better as the season goes on and be playing our best basketball when it means the most,” Lauer said. “We’ve set ourselves up to be tested every single night.”
