The Knights basketball team headed into off-season on a sour note with a blow-out loss to MiraCosta Spartans at their home game on Feb. 22, 70-53.

Once again, the men’s basketball team had an initial burst of energy, giving them an early lead. Kyle Anderson was the go-to man with his inside presence, scoring early and often. The score didn’t get past more than two points until the 14:11 mark of the first half when the Spartans began to impose their will over the Knights.

Anderson did what he could for the Knights but early foul trouble led to him fouling out of the game midway through the second half. Player Anthony Poindexter did what he could after Anderson fouled out by chipping in with 14 points of his own.

“Heading into the off-season we know that we under-achieved this year,” Head Coach Mitch Charles said.

The Knights finished the game shooting just under 32 percent from the field, 20 percent of it coming from the three-point line and just above 69 percent at the free-throw line. The Spartans shot 44 percent from the field, just under 43 percent of it coming from the three-point line and above 74 percent at the free-throw line.

“We have major concerns about our players not listening to their coaching and failing to play as a team for the full 40 minutes,” Assistant Coach Joe D’Ambro said. “It looks to be a long, hard off-season for the coaching staff and the Knight’s Mens basketball team.”

Bad transition defense led to two breakaway dunks by Spartans forward Baptiste Boucharel. Back-to-back possessions sucked the life out of the crowd at Harry West Gym and the Knights were too overwhelmed by the Spartans offensive balance and team defense.

Spartans had three starting players with starting forward Boucharel scoring 23 points and two early breakaway one-handed jams. Starting forward’s Bryce Lenhart earned 15 points and Lawrence Chamberlain earned 14 points, giving the Spartans team balance on the offensive end of the floor to complement their team defense and come out with a win at Harry West Gym.