Knights basketball player Dillon Cubit shoots from under the basket against Chabot College in Harry West Gym, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The 6-foot-9 freshman forward started the Jan. 3 game against Mesa College in place of regular starter Kevin Moore. Photo by Sean Monney/City Times Media

VIDEO/AUDIO: City College men’s basketball remains unbeaten with convincing win over rival Mesa

Knights move to 3-0 in PCAC, face first away game Friday at Southwestern

Vince Outlaw and Joseph Panek

January 4, 2024

Editor’s note: City Times Media’s Vince Outlaw and Joe Panek will be adding play-by-play and color commentary to all men’s home games during the 2023-24 season. To watch the video, click here. To listen to the audio feed, click here. To read a rough transcript generated by otter.ai, click here.

The holiday gift-giving season continued into 2024 for the San Diego City College men’s basketball team.

One day after moving up to No. 3 in the latest poll of California Community College coaches, the Knights started the year with another resounding conference victory, beating San Diego Mesa College, 81-48, at Harry West Gym on Jan. 3.

The victory puts City atop the standings of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference at 3-0 along with San Diego Miramar College.

Sophomore forward Dexter Stratton came off the bench to lead the Knights with 13 points, adding 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Four other Knights scored in double figures.

The Olympians’ already undersized front court of Sevea Blackburn and Chanel Mballa found itself in foul trouble early on. Still, the pesky defense by Mesa forced eight Knights turnovers in the first half and kept the score a relatively close 39-26 in favor of City at halftime.

City Times Media · City College men’s basketball remains unbeaten with convincing win over rival Mesa

The Knights then dialed up their own defense in the second half, forcing a total of 25 Mesa turnovers for the game, which City turned into 36 points and a lead of over 25 points for most of the half.

Knights forward Dillon Cubit started the game in place of regular starter Kevin Moore, who did not play.

City’s move to No. 3 in the coaches poll is their highest ranking of the season and highest since entering the 2017-2018 season at No. 1 after winning the state championship in 2017.

The Knights play their first PCAC away game on Jan. 5 when they face Southwestern College at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed on YouTube.

The City Times sports broadcast team is recruiting production staff for the spring semester to expand its coverage of Knights Athletics. To join the team, enroll in DJRN 210 or RTVF 145. The semester starts Jan. 29.

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