Canyons Gets Clawed by Citrus in 68-62 Road Loss

GLENDORA, Calif. — The College of the Canyons men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Citrus College on Saturday night, falling 68-62 while dropping its fifth straight contest.

After trailing for much of the game, the Cougars made it close by pulling within one point at 47-46 after a Jalen Ewell bucket with just over six minutes left in regulation.

Soon after, however, back-to-back three-pointers from Citrus extended the Owls' lead to 58-50, forcing the Cougars to try and play catch up once again.

The game was tight throughout, but free throw shooting was the Cougars' undoing. COC made one more basket than Citrus — shooting 23-of-64 for the game — but only made 13-of-21 free throws.

Despite the loss, Ewell and forward Victor Nwaba each scored 19 points with each posting a double-double in the game.

Ewell collected 13 rebounds, while Nwaba grabbed 11 boards. 

Canyons freshman James Chevious led the Cougar reserves, finishing with 10 points in 23 minutes of action.

The loss drops the Cougars to 0-4 in Western State Conference (WSC), South play and puts their overall record to 5-11 on the season.

Head coach Howard Fisher's squad will next host West L.A. College (8-7, 1-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20, in the Cougar Cage.