Owls Get to Keep Dancing

Ninth-seeded Citrus College held off a late surge from eighth-seeded Ventura College to grab a 77-74 victory in the CCCAA Men's Basketball Regionals and keep on dancing.

The Owls improve to 22-6, while the Pirates end their season at 25-3.

Chris Harper led the Owls with 19 points off the bench on 7-of-14 shooting. Cedric Redd added 12 points (5-of-10) while Leonard Turner added 11 points.

Citrus forced 23 turnovers, which led to 22 points, in the victory.

The Owls won the tip and Turner banked in the first bucket of the night to put Citrus in front early.

With just under six minutes left before halftime, Chris Chiles sparked a 9-0 run to give the Owls a 36-22 lead. Citrus kept pushing and walked into the break holding a 43-28 upper hand.

The Pirates launched a ferocious comeback and pulled within one possession, 73-70, with just under three minutes to play.

The Owls turned up the pressure and got defensive stops it needed as Ventura turned the ball over in its next two possessions. Reed grabbed an important put-back to keep some distance for the Owls, 75-70, and force a Ventura timeout.

With 15 seconds left, the Pirates cut it to two points, 76-74, and tried to foul to get the ball back. Frances Dogani sank a free throw to make it a three-point game.

Ventura tried to hit a shot from the perimeter to force overtime, but it was off target as Aibigho Ujadughele grabbed the rebound to seal the victory.

The Owls have a big task in front of them, taking on top-seeded Fullerton College on Saturday at 7 p.m. on the road.