The No. 2 ranked Knights fought off the tough No. 20 Grossmont Griffins on Wednesday night, 79-75, to win their 19th straight and improve to 26-2 overall and 7-0 in the PCAC South. Robert McCoy led the way with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, and three assists.
Not only did the Knights extend their longest win streak in team history to 19, but they also added to their conference win streak which now stands at 25 in a row. The last PCAC South loss came on February 20, 2015.
The Griffins came into Wednesday's game looking to tie the Knights for first place in the standings and gave them a battle that came down to the final seconds.
There were nine lead changes in the first half, but the Knights came away with a 43-36 lead. City took its largest lead of the game, 47-39, a minute into the second half on a layup by Robert Taylor, who scored nine points and brought down 11 boards with two blocks.
Grossmont heated up from the outside as they knocked down five 3s to help cut City's lead down to one point on two occasions within the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Adrian Byrd_Jelinek, who scored 14 points off the bench, and Isaac Davis, who added nine points, six rebounds, and four assists as a reserve, scored four points each during an 8-0 run that pushed the Knights' lead back up to 65-56 with 7:26 left in the game.
The Griffins, who had four starters in double figures, including Ronald Blain who had 21 points and 17 rebounds, made one more run in the final 1:28. A quick 6-0 run cut City's lead to 75-73 with 27 seconds remaining.
After a missed free throw by Knights' guard Isaac Davis, Grossmont's Oscar Limon (15 points) rushed down the court and into the paint where the ball was knocked loose by Wonder Smith (8 points) who recovered the ball and was fouled.
Smith hit a pair of free throws to put the Knights up by four. After a quick layup by Blain, Joseph Riley was fouled with one second left and also nailed two free throws to secure the victory for the Knights.
The Knights forced Grossmont into 20 turnovers which led to a 30-6 advantage on points off turnovers. The Knights also outscored Grossmont, 20-6, on fast break points.
City has won its last seven over Grossmont. The last time the Knights lost to the Griffins was on December 6, 2015.
City will play two of it's final three conference games at home where they have won 14 straight, going back to last season. The Knights play at Southwestern on Friday at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the PCAC South season with home games on February 14 against Imperial Valley and February 16 vs. Mesa.
