In an epic battle filled with drama, excitement and lots of fouls, #2 Citrus (14-2) held off a huge rally from host #14 LA Trade Tech (7-5) to post an 86-79 win Saturday night in a showdown between two of the Southland's top programs.
Citrus saw most of an 18-point second-half lead disappear as Trade Tech got within a point in the final three minutes. And the Owls were whistled for 35 of the game's 63 fouls, losing PF Keith Thompson for the night with 4:48 to play. But key plays by Ctr Randy Hunter, PF Cameron Nettles and SF DeAndre Haskins in the final two minutes allowed Citrus to hold on for the win.
Trade Tech's late rally saw the Citrus lead dwindle to a single point after a turnaround jumper by PF Austin Bowen with 2:47 left that made it 75-74. After a pair of free throws by Haskins and a basket by Hunter, Citrus held a 5-point advantage, but two free throws by Bowen made it 79-76 wth 1:49 to play and Thompson, who had 20 pts for the Owls, having already fouled out and Hunter, the Owls' leading scorer in the game, playing with 4 fouls.
But Hunter never picked up his 5th foul. Plus, he scored on a putback that pushed Citrus' lead to 81-76. After Bowen made one free throw with 1:14 left to make it 81-77, Trade Tech had the chance to get closer when SF Tyrone Nance went to the free throw line with 56.3 seconds left. He missed both free throws, but got the rebound of his second miss to retain possession.
That's when Nettles stole the ball back for Citrus. The ball ended up in Hunter's hands, and he was fouled; his two made free throws with 35.6 seconds left pushed Citrus' lead to 83-77. Then Trade Tech got the ball to Ctr Yashin Ali inside, but Haskins blocked his shot at the basket. PG Derrick Rodgers got the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws with 14.5 seconds left to finally clich the win for Citrus.
All that followed a dramatic comeback by the home team, cutting the Citrus lead to a point after the Owls held a 63-45 advantage with just over 11 minutes left. Citrus went on a 16-3 run midway through the first half to take a 29-19 lead, and led by as many as 13 points in the first half before settling for an 11-point lead at the half.
Even as Citrus built its 18-point lead, however, danger lurked as the Owls were already in the penalty and Thompson was already on the bench with his 4th foul. Hunter committed his 4th foul with 8:44 left and Trade Tech already having cut the lead to single digits. Thompson fouled out with 4:48 left, and Ali made two free throws on the play to make it a 3-point game at 71-68.
But Citrus never quite lost the lead. The fact that the Owls routinely play 12 players was key as all 12 saw substantial playing time (and all 12 were assessed at least one personal foul).
The game began with the teams on basically even terms, with Trade Tech taking a 16-13 lead after getting a spark from PG Daundrekcyc Parham. The 6-1 back-up point guard had 2 assists and a basket in his first couple of minutes on the floor to put his team in the lead.
But then Citrus went on the 16-3 run, sparked by a pair of three-pointers by SG Jose Rivera, the first of which tied the game 16-16 and the second of which put Citrus ahead, 19-16. Another Rivera three made it 22-18. A putback basket by Ctr Tom Granado capped the run and pushed the lead to 10 at 29-19. The lead reached 13 at 44-31 late in the first half after a pair of baskets by Thompson before Nance scored on a feed from Parham to make it 44-33 at the break.
Citrus pushed the lead back to 13 early in the second half on a short jumper by Hunter. Trade Tech cut the deficit to 6 points at 48-42 before Citrus pushed the advantage to 18 at 63-45 after a slashing basket by SG Jerry Santos with just over 11 minutes, which seemed to put the Owls in control. But it turned out to just set the stage for the final drama.
Hunter went 9-for-12 from the floor for his game-high 23 pts, and also had a game-high 11 rebs. Thompson had 20 pts, including 4 threes, before fouling out. Rivera also had 4 threes, good for 12 pts.
For Trade Tech, Bowen had a team-high 20 pts plus 7 rebs before fouling out in the final seconds. Nance had 15 pts and a team-best 8 rebs, and SG Cliff Sutherland had 12 pts including the Beavers' only two 3-pointers.
box score
Saturday, January 2, 2010 - 7 pm
@ LA Trade Tech
Citrus Owls 86:
3-DeAndre Haskins, SF - 2/8 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
15-Jose Rivera, SG - 4/13 fg, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
20-Randy Hunter, C - 9/12 fg, 5/6 ft, 11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 23 pts
23-Derrick Rodgers, PG - 1/4 fg, 7/10 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 9 pts
45-Keith Thompson, PF - 8/14 fg, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 5 pf, 20 pts
12-Hakeem Washington, G - 0/3 fg, 2/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
5-Jerry Santos, G - 2/7 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 4 pts
32-Darin Stewart, F - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
50-Tom Granado, C - 1/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 5 pf, 2 pts
14-Cameron Nettles, F - 0/5 fg, 2/4 ft, 9 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 2 pts
10-Donnel Phifer, G - 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
40-Cameron Khoury, C - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 slt, 2 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 28/72 fg (.389), 22/32 ft (.688), 53 reb, 17 ast, 4 blk, 10 stl, 35 pf, 86 pts
3-pt fg (8): Rivera 4, Thompson 4
Fouled Out: Granado 9:35 left, Thompson 4:48 left
Turnovers (21): Thompson 6, Nettles 3, Rivera 2, Hunter 2, Washingotn 2, Haskins, Rodgers, Granado, Phifer, Khoury, team
LA Trade Tech Beavers 79:
1-Austin Bowen, PF - 5/10 fg, 10/12 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 20 pts
5-Christopher Johnson, PG - 1/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 5 pts
31-Yashin Ali, C - 2/7 fg, 3/5 ft, 2 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 7 pts
33-Josh Chatman, PF - 1/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
34-Clifford Sutherland, SG - 4/13 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 stl, 4 pf, 12 pts
32-Tyrone Nance, F - 4/6 fg, 7/13 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 15 pts
24-Tyron Lyons, F - 3/4 fg, 0/2 3 pf, 6 pts
23-Jason Williams, C - 3/5 fg, 1/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
13-Daundrekcyc Parham, G - 1/2 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
20-Irvin Flores, G - 2 reb, 0 pts
4-Darnell Campbell, G - 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
30-Tim Johnson, G - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 25/58 fg (.431), 27/45 ft (.600), 40 reb, 14 ast, 3 blk, 7 stl, 28 pf, 79 pts
3-pt fg (2): Sutherland 2
Fouled Out: Bowen 14.5 seconds left
Turnovers (20): Nance 6, C.Johnson 5, Bowen 4, Parham 2, Lyons, Williams, Campbell
Halftime Score: Citrus 44, LA Trade Tech 33
Updated Records: Citrus (#2-South, #3-Calif) 14-2, LA Trade Tech (#14-South) 7-5
Citrus led by 18 at 63-45 with just over 11 mins left. LATT got within 1 at 75-74 with 2:37 left and still trailed by 4 in the final minute but never quite got even.
