Citrus Digs Deep for Road Win

In an early ranked showdown, No. 13-ranked Citrus College grabbed a 67-61 victory over No. 24-ranked Long Beach City College.

The Owls improve to 2-0 on the young season, while the Vikings slip to 1-2.

Leonard Turner led Citrus with 22 points (10-for-17) and grabbed 13 boards for a double-double. Anthony Tello followed with 12 points (5-for-14) and Cedric Reed added 11 points (4-for-11). Jayden Johnston dished out four assists without a turnover in the game.

Tello got the Owls on the board first, but Citrus couldn't quite shake the Vikings until the final four minutes before halftime.

Tied at 21-21, Tello banked in a jumper shot and drew a foul to tack on an extra point on the play. Long Beach sank a free throw, but Dylon Davis went coast-to-coast to sink in a jump shot and spark a 10-2 run in the final four minutes of the half.  

It put Citrus up 31-25 coming out of the break and the Owls looked to further create some distance. Turner rattled in a trey to threaten a double-digit lead, 38-29.

The Vikings wouldn't allow that to happen, however, and battled back to take the lead, 43-39, with just over 11 minutes to play.

Citrus found itself trailing 55-50 heading down the stretch and dug deep. With three minutes left in the game, Reed drained a jumper, followed by a Turner jumper to put the Owls within one, 57-56.

Johnston came up big with a defensive board in the final 30 seconds of the game and found Turner on the outlet, who slammed it home to put Citrus up 65-58. Reed capped the scoring for the Owls with two made free throws to lift Citrus 67-61 on the night.

The Owls have another early challenge, hosting No. 9-ranked Riverside City College, which spoiled Citrus' 2019-20 season with a second-round CCCAA Southern Regional defeat.