No. 4 Ranked Owls Torch Vikings in Rout at Long Beach

The No. 4–ranked Citrus College Men's Basketball team dominated from start to finish in a 101–61 road victory over Long Beach City College on Tuesday night. The win moves the Owls to 9–1 overall, while the Vikings fall to 2–8.

Citrus wasted no time setting the tone, generating a 13–0 lead in the first five minutes and stretching the margin to 35–8 midway through the opening half. The Owls were electric offensively, shooting 23-of-35 from the field, 9-of-12 from three, and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. On the defensive end, Citrus forced eight turnovers and held Long Beach to just 8-of-37 shooting and 0-of-5 from deep, taking a commanding 64–22 lead into halftime.

The Owls stayed relentless after the break, pushing the lead to as many as 55 points— their second-largest advantage of the season (behind their 58-point margin against Orange Coast in November). Citrus shot 13-of-33 in the second half, including 5-of-15 from three, and continued its defensive clampdown by forcing seven more turnovers and holding the Vikings without a three-pointer for the entire game (0-of-6).

For the night, Citrus turned in a complete team performance. The Owls shot 36-of-68 from the field, 14-of-27 from beyond the arc, and 15-of-20 at the line. Citrus also won the battles in rebounding (47–41), assists (25–10), points off turnovers (19–8), and second-chance points (14–7). Long Beach held slight edges in points in the paint (44–42) and bench points (30–31).

Leo Ricketts led the way with 27 points—his fifth 20-point performance of the season—adding four assists, two rebounds, and a team-high three steals. JJ Sanchez was perfect from the field, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting (including 1-of-1 from three and 2-of-2 at the line), along with six rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Amiri Meadows contributed 11 points, a game-high six assists, six rebounds, two steals, and a block. Dev Hamilton, in his first start as an Owl, scored 10 points with three rebounds, an assist, and a block. Rockwell Reynolds added eight points, a game-high nine rebounds, and three blocks. Off the bench, Jake Winkelman chipped in eight points and three rebounds; Alek Sanchez tallied six points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals; and Nathan Kwon and Brady Orr each knocked down a pair of threes to finish with six points apiece.

Citrus continues its road stretch with a matchup at East Los Angeles College this Friday, December 12 at 7 p.m., followed by a trip north to face Fresno City College on Tuesday, December 16 at 3 p.m.