Community College Basketball Roundup : Golden West Defeats Citrus to Win Consolation Title

Golden West College fell behind by 12 points in the first half but rallied for a 90-85 victory over Citrus in the consolation championship of the Golden West men’s basketball tournament Saturday at Golden West.

Golden West’s Markus Muller-Stach connected on three 3-pointers early in the second half as the Rustlers built a 61-49 lead with 12:07 left. Citrus led at the half, 38-36. Muller-Stach finished with a team-high 22 points, 16 in the second half.

But then Citrus rallied with some strong 3-point shooting of its own. Dan Biagi keyed the run with three 3-pointers in a row as Citrus cut the lead to 63-60 with 8:50 left.

But Golden West (11-2) responded well down the stretch and Citrus was never able to get closer than 2 points.

Dion Tolbert made a short jumper to cut the Golden West lead to 73-71 with 5:43 left. Golden West countered with strong free-throw shooting in the final 3 minutes to prevent a Citrus comeback. Alex Kreps made 5 free throws and Dave Yamate, Elbert Davis and Muller-Stach made 2 each as Golden West scored its final 11 points from the foul line.

Citrus (4-5) had opened a 26-14 lead with 11:08 left in the first half, thanks mostly to the strong inside play of freshman Marcell Driver. Driver, 6-foot 7-inch forward, scored a game-high 28 points, including 12 of the Owls’ first 26.

But the Golden West zone defense collapsed well around Driver in the second half, when he was held to 10 points.

Kevin Anderson scored 16, and Kreps and Steve Moser 15 each for Golden West.