The Carter II

Glendora, CA -- After a three game "slump" in which he was held to below his season average, sophomore Kerry Carter exploded on Wednesday night. Carter scored a game high 37 points, the fourth highest single game point total in program history, and hit big shot after big shot, in helping lead the Owls past Los Angeles Valley College in double overtime 100-92.

Valley would come out and score the first four points of the game, before Carter got the Owls rolling with a conventional three point play. The Monarchs would hang on to the lead until the 15:17 mark in the first half when a three from freshman Terrell Todd tied the game up at 10-10, and then another triple from Todd gave Citrus a 13-10 lead, a lead they'd hang onto for a significant amount of time.

Citrus' largest lead in that first half would be just seven points, a landmark they three times. The first was after a lay-up from sophomore Jordan Mackie with 5:39 to go, the second on a three from Carter with 4:38 on the clock, and the last when freshman Darius Middleton hit a 10 foot jump shot as time expired in the half to make it 39-32 at halftime.

The Owls continued to cling to their lead in the second half, pushing it to as much as 11 points after a jumper in the paint from sophomore Gregory Sequele made it 61-50 with 10:12 left in the game. Valley would get it down to one point with 7:38 to go, but the Owls answered with a 7-0 run to push it back to eight with 4:12 left.

Still the Monarchs didn't lay down. Valley battled all the way back knotting the game up at 72 with 48 seconds left. Citrus took the lead right back on their next possession, when Carter hit a big three from the left wing, but on the ensuing in bound, the Owls blew their defensive responsibilities and Valley tied it back up with a three of their own, sending the game into the first overtime tied up at 75.

Valley would take their first lead since early in the first half in the opening minutes of the first overtime, but it wouldn't be for long as the two teams traded the lead back and forth four times, with Valley taking it back seemingly for good after they went up by three with 32 seconds left. On the next possession though, Carter came through again hitting a corner three to tie the game up at 26 and sending the game into yet another overtime.

This time, the Owls took control of the game for good. Middleton started things off with a three from the wing. Valley came back down and got a two, and on Citrus' next trip down the floor, Carter hit another big triple to put the Citrus advantage back to four. The Monarchs answered with a three of their own, but the Owls scored 10 of the final 13 points to claim the eight point win.

Along with Carter's 37, sophomore Steven Thornton Jr. scored 23 points, and recorded a game high six steals. Middleton added 16 points and a program record 12 assists. Most impressive was that Middleton didn't turn the ball over once on the game, as the Owls had just six total turnovers in the contest. Sequele rounded out the superlatives with his second straight double-double, scoring 10 points, grabbing 12 boards, and blocking three shots for good measure.

With the win, Citrus improves to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in WSC South play. The Owls will be on a bye this weekend, before resuming conference play against Bakersfield College next Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM in Bakersfield.