Posted: Nov 24, 2012
Owls Blow Late Lead; Sent to Consolation Round
East Los Angeles
(4-1)
85
Citrus
(2-3)
84
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
East Los Angeles (4-1) | 43 | 42 | 85 |
|
Citrus (2-3) | 38 | 46 | 84 |
Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Men's Basketball team blew a five point lead with 34 seconds to go, as they were relinquished to the Consolation Round of their annual Neil Edwards Classic for the first time since 2005 on Friday afternoon. The Huskies of East Los Angeles College hit a three pointer with 4 seconds left to down the Owls 85-84.
The game would go back and forth throughout the first half, with the Owls holding onto a 35-31 lead with just over three minutes to go in the first half. The Huskies then proceeded on a 12-3 run to close out the half, and went into the break up 43-38.
East LA never extended their lead to double digits going up by as much as nine with 17 minutes left in the contest. The Owls responded with a 13-2 run as they ripped the lead back from the Huskies when sophomore Jordan Mackie drilled a three in the corner to make it 55-53 Citrus.
The two teams would trade the lead back and forth, until the Owls seemingly swung the momentum completely in their favor when freshman Terrell Todd completed a 3-point play and put Citrus up 72-69.
The Owls hung onto that lead all the way down to the 34 second mark when freshman Darius Middleton hit a pair free-throws to make it 84-79 Citrus. East LA responded by hitting a quick three that cut the Owls' lead to two. All Citrus had to do was inbound the ball on their next possession but the Owls turned the ball over 3/4 down the court. The Huskies quickly picked the ball up and took it up the sideline hitting a triple in the corner to put them up by one.
Citrus tried to quickly inbound the ball and get a good shot up, but they didn't get a clean look and the Owls fell to 2-3. Sophomore Steven Thornton Jr. led the way for Citrus in the loss with a game high 26 points in the loss, while freshman Terrell Todd poured in 22 off the bench. The Owls will take on Porterville at 1:00 PM tomorrow in the Consolation Round.