The entire San Diego City College men’s basketball team finished its practice Oct. 17 with intensity as the Knights sprinted down the full court and back after several hours of practice. 

This is a regular drill for them, and it showed in their full court presses over the two-day Knights Invitational tournament.

City hosted its first tournament of the season on Oct. 12, winning both of its games before a limited audience to Harry West Gymnasium while streaming games on YouTube for those who could not attend.

The Knights (4-1) first took on the Orange Coast College Pirates (2-3), winning 97-66, with a fast-paced offense.

The Knights in the first half dictated the rest of the game building a ten-point lead to a 23-point lead into the second half outscoring the Pirates, 59-36.

The Pirates could not recover from the Knights’ consistent offense and the rebounding was essential with 22-12 in favor of City at the half.

Drew Cisse (Rancho Bernardo), a 6-9 center, led the way with a monstrous game, scoring 16 points with 13 rebounds and four blocks in the first day match-up.

The next day the Knights took on the Barstow Community College Vikings (2-3), in which City took over the Vikings, 123-72.

City did not waste time starting the game with a 12-0 run. Guard Jonathan Ogugua (Houston, TX) had 16 of his 19 points and four of his six assists in the first half. Josh Williams had 12 of his 14 points and four of his six assists in the same half.

The Knights dominated in efficiency with a 63% field goal percentage and 53.8% three-point percentage compared to the Vikings’ 41.2% from the floor and 8.7% from the three-point line.

The next challenge for the Knights is taking on the undefeated Fullerton College Hornets (4-0). Fullerton was the 2019 California Community College State Champions and has the best record thus far in the Orange Empire Conference.

Ogugua is aware City’s next match-up is going to be a tough one even with him continuing to play well. He has averaged over five games 16.6 points with a 44.8% field goal percentage and 48.3% from beyond the three-point line.   

“We have not played against them yet, but they are supposed to be one of the top teams in the state,” Ogugua said.

Though motivated by the team’s performance at the invitational, Knights head coach Andy Ground sees the team’s match-up with the Hornets as a more truthful measurement of where they are in the season. 

“We are still a work in progress and have a long way to go,” Ground said. ”Fullerton is one of the favorites in the state along with San Francisco.”

The Knights will take on Fullerton on Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. The game will be livestreamed and you can watch by clicking here.