Knights on rare, rare losing streak
- Updated: November 17, 2018
2018 COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
By Nick Pellegrino
Special to East County Sports
GLENDORA (11-19-2018) – It’s one thing to fall to state-ranked programs on consecutive nights. And losing in the final minute to a ballclub knocking on the door for inclusion to the state Top 20 is excusable.
However, what happened to San Diego City College on Saturday (Nov. 17) hasn’t happened to the Knights since the 2013-14 season.
In the consolation final of the Citrus College Tournament, Santa Monica handed the Knights a resounding 80-62 pasting, extending SDCC’s losing streak to four straight games. It’s the school’s first such streak over a span of 163 contests..
The Corsairs compiled a 28-17 lead at the 16-minute mark, only to watch City rally back to within five by halftime. But in the second half, once the Knights moved to within 54-50, Santa Monica went on a 12-2 run to win and level their record to 3-3. SDCC fell to3-4 overall.
Marcus Harris finished with 17 points for SMC, while LeAndrew Knight added 17 points and 7 rebounds, as the Corsairs held a huge 40-29 advantage on the boards.
San Diego City received bench points from Joseph Riley (12 points) and Christian High alum Nashom Carter (11) after the starters managed a mere composite 26 points. Carter went 5-for-7 from the floor, but the rest of the Knights shot a lowly 26percent (14-for-53).
Canyons 75, Cuyamaca 72: In an unfortunate case of role reversal, College of the Canyons mounted an early 12-7 lead, only to see Cuyamaca surpass them to grab the halftime lead. But when the Coyotes increased their advantage in the second half, the Cougars roared back to take this semifinals contest at the Irvine Valley College Classic.
Moses Smith (Granite Hills) paced the Coyotes (1-7) with 14 points, one of three players scoring in double figures, while the bench also contributed a composite 25 points.
However, COC guards Chris Joo and Leonard Wilson answered with 15 points each, while Jude Agbasi scored on a layin with 55 seconds remaining to give the Cougars a 71-70 lead. Cuyamaca then missed a shot with 30 seconds left and were forced to foul, but Canyons capped the triumph by going 4-for-4 at the line.
American River 90, Imperial Valley 76: At the Irvine Valley Classic in south Orange County, the Beavers from Sacramento held off the Arabs (2-5) in a consolation contest Saturday (Nov. 17). IVC held early first-half leads of 22-11 and 39-24, but were out-scored 21-5 to give up the advantage by the intermission.
Kareem Clark led American River (3-2) with 25, while guard Tommy Edwards added 24.
Imperial Valley saw freshman point guard Timberland Mills, the MVP at Poway High in his senior year (2014-15), tally a game-best 29 points. He was 6-for-9 from beyond the arc, but the Arabs still dropped their fourth straight ballgame.
Riverside 113, San Diego Mesa 98: The Olympians remained winless in five starts following their loss to the host Tigers in a non-conference affair at the historic Wheelock Gymnasium.
Mesa guard Aren Thomas (Houston, Tex.) collected 19 points n 6-for-8 shooting, but just five offensive rebounds against the physical Riverside inside unit didn’t get the job done.
Riverside guard Cameron Wilson went 8-for-13 from beyond the arc for a game-high 26 points, lifting the Tigers to a 4-1 mark.
Compton 96, Grossmont 70: The Griffins dropped their seventh straight at this consolation game at the San Bernardino Valley Tournament. Due to computer problems at SBVC, no other information was reported.
Friday
Chaffey 88, San Diego City 82: What has happened to the 13th-ranked Knights? After opening the season with three consecutive victories, City (3-3) has suddenly dropped three in a row after falling to the host Panthers at the Citrus College Tournament in Glendora.
The first two in the sequence were anything but bad beats, falling to No. 4 Fullerton and No. 7 Saddleback, but to fall to the unranked Panthers might be cause for concern.
City’s 1-2 punch of Trevor Drake (24 points) and Robby Robinson (23) were again unstoppable, So Chaffey focused on limiting the Knights’ secondary scoring to come away with the win in a thriller which was finally decided in the final minutes.
Four players scored in double figures for Chaffey (4-1), led by 17 from guard Jaylen Wiltz, as this victory should allow the Panthers to replace SDCC in the next state rankings.
Seven minutes into the contest, Iysaiah Rojas grabbed a defensive rebound, then raced down the court on a fast break, pulling up and nailing a 3-point shot for a 20-10 lead. Moments later, Hasson Oulai sank a jumper for a 12-point advantage.
City made a pair of strong runs to finally take the lead.
They battled back to within three points at 57-54 early in the second half on a 3-point bucket by Mikal Garcia, However, Chaffey answered with a 9-0 run to again lead by double figures.
A final City surge cut the deficit to 72-70 with 7:07 left on consecutive jumpers by point guard NaShom Carter (Christian HS), Drake sank a pair of free throws to tie it ay 76-all with 5:08 to go, then Carter made two free throws to move City in front for the first time since the ballgame’s opening moments at 78-76 with 4:16 on the clock.
Robinson hit a short jumper to make it 80-77, then two free throws for an 82-79 lead, but Chaffey went on a 9-0 run over the final 2:13 to steal back the triumph.
MiraCosta 76, El Camino 59: The host Spartans (4-2) won this non-conference game over the Warriors (4) of Torrance at Crosswoods Gym on the east side of Oceanside, but the school failed to report anything else to the CCCAA state website.
Southwestern 1San Diego Miramar 79: The 15th-ranked Jaguars (4-2) handed the visiting Jets (4-1) their first setback in a huge PCAC North-South pairing.
