No. 5 San Diego City Falls To No. 10 Southwestern, 91-85

In a game featuring two top 10 teams and the last two PCAC champions, it was the No. 10 ranked Southwestern Jaguars (11-4, 3-0 PCAC) who were victorious on Friday as they fought off No. 5 San Diego City, 91-85. Marquavian Stephens led the Jaguars with 26 points and five rebounds, while Kai Huntsberry scored a career-high 24 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals for San Diego City.

The Knights (11-4, 2-1 PCAC) got off to a slow start as they missed 10 of their first 14 shots and Southwestern took advantage by grabbing an early 21-8 lead. The Jaguars went ahead by as many as 14 points midway through the first half, but the Knights closed the gap in a hurry with a 10-0 run during a three minute stretch and went into the locker room down, 44-40.

San Diego City fell behind by eight points early in the second half, but responded with a 10-2 spurt to finally tie the game at 56-56 with 12:27 left. All 10 of those points were scored on layups as the Knights pushed the tempo. 

The Knights tied the game on four more occasions down the stretch, but could never get over the hump as Southwestern had an answer every time. 

Huntsberry's layup with 5:04 remaining tied the game at 72-72, but the Jaguars came back with a layup from Isaiah Camon and a corner 3 from Raphael Allen to put them up by five. 

Huntsberry got the Knights back within a point with 1:52 left after knocking down a pair of free throws, but Southwestern answered with a jumper from Stephens and a 3-point play by Allen as they pulled away for the win.

The Knights had their worst shooting performance of the season from beyond the arc as they made only two of their 29 3-point attempts (6.9%). Overall, the Knights shot a poor 35.6% from the floor, while Southwestern shot 47.1%. 

Legend Stamps scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked three shots for the Knights. Isaac Davis added 13 points and six assists off the bench. 

The Knights fell to 2-1 in the PCAC, while Southwestern improved to 3-0. 

San Diego City will look to bounce back on Wednesday, Jan. 8 as they travel to Imperial Valley for a 5 p.m. game.