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The San Diego City College men’s basketball team defeated the Cuyamaca College Coyotes, 85-77, on Friday, Jan. 9 at Harry West Gym.
The Knights (11-5, 4-0) remain undefeated in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, averaging 97.3 points per game in league play.
Both teams lacked offensive cohesion during the first half, in which City committed 14 fouls and gave Cuyamaca the bonus situation early.
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Cuyamaca (6-11, 2-3) shot 12-of-18 from the free-throw line and scored six points off 12 turnovers in the first half.
Freshman Luke Hecht was crucial in finding and adjusting the tone offensively despite not having a huge scoring night, shooting only 1-of-7 with three points in 26 minutes.
“We had a couple of guys in foul trouble, myself included,” Hecht said. “At halftime, coach Mitch (Charlens) got on us about staying low in a stance, just having more urgency to get a stop.”
Charlens employed multiple lineup changes in the game, and 10 Knights contributed significant minutes in the eight-point victory.
Sophomore Junior Camacho contributed immediately off the bench with a steal and finished the night with 17 points, surpassing his season average of 14.3 points per game.
The Coyotes are on a mid-season losing streak that was extended to five games against the Knights.
Despite their record, Cuyamaca head coach Rob Wojtkowski’s squad showed some gritty defense and finished the half down only seven points to the back-to-back reigning PCAC champions.
City freshman Dylan Griffin led all scorers with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists in the first half.
Griffin would finish with 20 points, shooting 7-of-10 from field goal range, in 24 minutes on the court before eventually fouling out late in the game.
The second half began with a deep three-point bucket from 6-foot-11 Cyprian Hyde. The big man from nearby Vista has made 6-of-17 from three-point range on the season.
Hyde finished the night with 14 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block.
Cuyamaca would shrink City’s lead to three points after Kenneth Klu found Santiago Estrada for a wide open three-pointer with 13:46 to go in the game.
Cuyamaca had five three-pointers in the second half, shooting 53.8% from deep, compared to 37.5% from City.
Rebounds and reducing turnovers would prove to be the difference for City down the stretch.
City out-rebounded Cuyamaca, 35-25, in the game and had only five turnovers in the second half.
With 5:56 left in the game, City would take its largest lead of 11 points, surpassing its season average of 76.1 points per game.
The play of the game came late when Junior Camacho would find a leaping Larry Lewis III for an alley-oop dunk, increasing the lead to 79-70 with 2:58 left in the game.
Lewis, the 6-8 freshman from Vacaville, finished with eight points, six rebounds and a block in 18 minutes.
This is the 28th straight victory by the Knights over Cuyamaca, who has not won a game against City since 2010.
City has seven wins in its last 10 games and is ranked No. 18 in the state, according to the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches poll, down from its preseason ranking of No. 14.
The two teams will face off again at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego on Friday, Feb. 6.
Next up for the City men’s team is another PCAC matchup at San Diego Miramar College on Jan. 14 at 6 p.m.
This story was edited by Briana Bush and Itzel Martinez.
