basketball game against Citrus College, the No. 1 ranked team in Southern California as well as the No.2 ranked team in the state.

The Warriors got a 87-85, win with their first game of the season on Friday at home.

Throughout the game, there were seven lead changes and the score was tied on 10 occasions. The final lead change was decided by Brandon Boyd, who had a fall away lay-up with 2:46 left in the game to give the Warriors the lead for good.

“We know the game; the game is 40 minutes,” Joshua Wilson, guard, said. “It is not short and we know we just have to keep playing and sooner or later we are going to turn it on.”

Wilson led the way with 21 points on 9-17 shooting and added eight rebounds and six assists but also had eight turnovers.

The crowd was especially cheerful because after being down six points with 4:40 left in the game, the Warriors went on a 6-0 run to tie it at 74-74 with 3:30 left in the game before running away with the win.

Wilson said that it was a great team effort as the Warriors shot 51 percent from the field. They also had three players in double figures in points. This game was the first for new coach Robert Uphoff, and he was jubilant after the big win to start the season.

“I thought they competed their behinds off,” Uphoff said. “They played as a team. I thought they were unselfish and they laid everything on the line.”

Uphoff said he was impressed with the teams’ adversity and tenacity throughout the game as there were deficits of 10 points multiple times.

The Warriors’ bench was a force as six out of seven players pitched in with at least five points and at least eight minutes. The Warriors found a formidable player off of the bench, forward Joshua Boyer, who was a constant force down low with 11 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.

Boyer said that the Warriors’ defense and offense helped them to come back with intensity in the second half.

“I really thought it was our pressure on the defensive end. When we pressed them, we got them to turn the ball over and we just made plays,” Uphoff said.

In the end, the stat of the game was probably from the free throw line where neither team shot very well. The Owls were 46-31 (67 percent) from the free throw line and the Warriors were 22-11 (50 percent).

Uphoff said that Citrus College was missing some of its big players, but still gave the Warriors a challenge.

Citrus College came into the game favored as they are ranked and are coming off a season in which, they had a deep playoff run. The Owls leading scorer was guard Kerry Carter who had 23 points on 7-13 shooting and 7-10 from the free throw line.

“I feel good and I feel like we can do big things,” said Wilson, on his outlook for the season, “We could compete for a state championship.”

The Warriors’ next game is Wednesday at Cypress College at 5 p.m.