By Wes McCurtis

CYPRESS, CA – The Cypress College men's basketball team (4-7) suffered a tough loss to the Citrus College Owls (12-2) at home on Thursday night, 98-73. The Owls used a combination of physical defensive pressure and long range shooting to pull away from the Chargers in the second half.

Freshman point guard Siah Mack led the Chargers with a season-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting in just 19 minutes, while sophomores Brennon Palmer and Mike Magee added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Citrus point guard Jeremy Smith controlled the game from the opening tip, pouring in a game-high 26 points and 8 assists. Andrew Ammann added 14 points and 3 boards.

Despite scoring a season-high 73 points as a team, the Chargers were unable to keep pace with an experienced Owls team. Cypress went blow for blow with Citrus in the opening half, trailing just 40-48 at the break. Citrus came out firing in the second half, using a 13-0 run to put the game out of reach, while shooting a lights out 63.3% from the field and 50% from three.

The Chargers will look to bounce back on the road against Cuyamaca on Tuesday, December 19 at 5:00 pm.

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