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.
In a game fought hard both on the court and with contentious voices in the stands of Harry West Gymnasium, San Diego City College men’s basketball defeated Palomar College, 89-71, on Jan. 19.
The win extended the Knights’ record to 7-0 in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play and a share of the conference lead with MiraCosta College. A showdown of the conference leaders takes place when City travels to meet the Spartans on Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.
Guard Al Green led City with 22 points in a game that saw five Knights score in double figures, including Alex Crawford with 18, KJay Bradley with 16, Keavie Love 15, and new starter Dexter Stratton adding 10.
Crawford and Love pulled down six rebounds each, with Stratton and subs Dillon Cubit and Denis Kamburov all with five boards.
For the Comets, PCAC scoring leader Spivey Word dropped in 21 points, with three of his teammates in double figures including Kryztian Walton (16), Brandon Andrews (15) and Thomas Marcus (10).
City jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, but the Comets quickly came back to make it a one-point game. The Knights held the lead from the jump, but could only extend it to as much as six before Palomar got it back to one with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
The Knights finished the first half on a 16-5 run, which pushed their lead to 12 at the intermission.
Palomar scored two quick buckets to start the second half and cut City’s lead to seven, 40-47. That was the closest the Comets would get. The Knights then went on an 8-2 run, pushing the lead back to 13 and never looked back.
The game also saw technical fouls by both teams. Fans from both sides were very vocal with each other, the players on the court, and the referees. At one point, SDCCD police officers were brought in to determine if anyone needed to be removed from the gym, and they stayed through the end.
The battle for first place in the PCAC between City and the Spartans on Wednesday will be live-streamed on the MiraCosta College YouTube channel. It also begins the longest road trip in the Knights’ conference schedule, with four games away before the next home game on Feb. 7 against Southwestern.
