Former Citrus coaches meet in men's basketball showdown

RIVERSIDE - Two former Citrus College men's basketball head coaches met head-to-head Monday night as California Baptist University hosted Seattle University in Western Athletic Conference action. Fittingly, the game stretched into overtime with Seattle posting a hard-fought 92-85 win.

CBU's head coach Rick Croy and Seattle U's interim head coach Chris Victor are no strangers to each other. Croy took over the helm at Citrus in 2005 and brought Victor on as an assistant coach that first season. Victor then went on to coach at Concordia University of Irvine before returning to take the head job at Citrus after Croy left to join the staff at Saint Mary's.

Monday, the two reunited once again but on opposite sides of the court in a showdown in Riverside that was also featured on ESPN+. The contest was the eighth meeting between CBU and Seattle U, with the both teams winning four.

Croy and Victor each coached five seasons at Citrus and sit in the top-three of the Owls' all-time coaching records list. Croy holds the top spot with a 130-35 (.788) career mark, while Victor sits in third at 103-39 (.725) ­– current Owl head coach Brett Lauer is in the middle with a 106-35 (.752) career record.

Monday night marked the third time two head coaches from the same community college will face off in NCAA Division I action. Pat Douglass and Bob Thomason both coached at Columbia College before squaring off at UC Irvine and the University of Pacific, respectively, while Jerry Tarkanian and Mike Mulligan both coached at Riverside City College and faced each other during their times at Long Beach State and UC Irvine, respectively.

(Sammi Wellman, Citrus College Athletics)