The Citrus College men’s basketball season ended in the California Community College Athletic Association championship semifinal at the Golden Eagle Arena in Lemoore on Saturday.
After a 67-65 win over the College of the Sequoias Giants in the quarterfinal, the Owls suffered a 90-84 overtime loss in the semifinal to defending champion City College of San Francisco Rams.
The Owls ended their season with a 28-4 record.
During the game, Citrus College’s Chris Chiles and Jayden Johnston led the team scoring 14 points each. Jamal Briscoe and Uriah Foster came off the bench to score 12 points each while Aibigho Ujadughele came up with 12 rebounds and four steals.
The Owls led the game 38-35 at halftime but the Rams scored two clutch 3-pointers with less than 30 seconds remaining in the second half, tying the game and moving it into overtime.
San Francisco scored the first nine points of overtime and outscored Citrus 16-10 in the extra period.
The Citrus men’s basketball team fell short of a state championship but ended the year strong, winning the Western State Conference title and making it to the conference championship for the fifth time in six seasons. They also have had two consecutive CCCAA elite eight appearances.
The Owls had the sixth-best home turnout in the state.
Five of the Citrus men’s basketball team won all of the Western State Conference-South postseason honors. Brett Lauer won coach of the year for the fourth time. Chris Chiles won most outstanding player of the year while Ujadughele won defensive player of the year for the second time in a row. Chiles, Ujadughele and Anthony Tello won WSC-South first team honors. Johnston and Rudy Suarez also received honorable mentions.
