The San Diego City College men’s basketball team (1-2) suffered a pair of devastating losses in back-to-back Fullerton Tournament games at Fullerton College on Nov. 6-7.
The Knights lost against the Yuma Niners (1-0) on the first day of the Tournament of Champions with a 67-76 finish.
That was followed by a loss to West Valley 68-55 on Friday, Nov. 7.
Read the recap of the City-West Valley game below.
“We’re exceeding where we want to be but nowhere near where we need to be at all,” Camacho said during his media day interview on Oct. 22.
Against Yuba, City led in points until the last two minutes of the first half, keeping the point gap close throughout the first 20 minutes.
The Knights headed into halftime down one point, 34-33.
Through the remainder of the second half, though, City did not lead in the game.
Yuba’s defense disrupted City’s offense, which resulted in Knights surrendering the ball over 20 times.
With :39 remaining, Santana Huff scored the last point for the Knights with a 67-76 point finish making it impossible to overcome Yuba’s late surge.
The Knights were handed their first loss of the season and first regular season defeat since January of this year.
Sophomore Junior Camacho led the Knights with 24 points. Following Camacho was Luke Hecht with 9 points.
City falls to No. 4 West Valley, 68-55
City College men’s basketball team lost its second game in as many days, falling to No. 4 West Valley, 66-55, at Fullerton College.
Freshman Dylan Griffin led the way for the Knights, scoring 17 points on 4-of-15 from the floor and 2-of-7 from the three-point arc.
With seven minutes to go in the game, Griffin would cut City’s deficit to six, but that would be as close as the Knights would get before the final buzzer sounded.
Costly turnovers and a string of seven missed shots through the bulk of the second half would prove to be the team’s undoing.
Overall, the team shot 35% from the floor and went 5-of-19 from three-point range.
Early in the game, point guard Luke Hecht checked in and was immediately fouled on a three-point bucket, but failed to complete the four-point play, giving the Knights the lead 12-11.
To shake up the Vikings’ offensive attack, the Knights defense employed a full-court press, causing some frustration but minimal turnovers. Both teams would end the night even with 13 turnovers apiece.
Near the end of the first half, Griffin began to emerge on offense. After snagging an offensive rebound, which he slammed home with an emphatic dunk, the defense responded with a stop, leading to another bucket by the 6-foot-4 freshman.
West Valley would enter the half, up 34-27.
That lead would balloon to as many as 14 points in the second half.
The Knights will face off against Barstow at the Home Motors Tournament on Nov. 21 at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.
This story was edited by David J. Bohnet, Briana Bush and Itzel Martinez.
