The San Diego City College men's basketball team snapped a 4-game losing streak on Friday with a 68-64 victory over Santiago Canyon in the opening round of the Palomar tournament. Sophomore Joseph Riley led the team with 19 points, while freshman Kai Huntsberry added seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists off the bench.
The Knights got back to .500 (4-4) after ending the longest losing streak since a similar 4-game skid in November of 2013.
Freshman Nashom Carter scored all of his 11 points in the first half to help the Knights go ahead by as many as 16 points. The Knights shot 50 percent from the floor while holding Santiago Canyon to 28.6 percent shooting in the first half, but the Knights only held a 37-29 lead as they went into the locker room.
Santiago Canyon started the second half with a 9-2 run in the first three minutes to cut City's lead to 39-38 and the game remained close.
Canyon took its first lead, 52-51, since the opening minutes of the game on a layup by Paolo Araujo with 7:57 remaining, but the Knights regained the lead on a 3-pointer from Riley at the 6:38 mark.
Araujo, who totaled 16 points and five rebounds, tied it at 57-57 on a 3-pointer with just over five minutes left.
Neither team was able to score over the next 2:23 until Huntsberry hit a jumper to put the Knights ahead once again. After a Santiago Canyon turnover, Riley knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game to give City a 62-57 lead with 2:10 remaining.
Tyler Goodlow, who led Canyon with 18 points, got his team within a point on a jumper with 37 seconds left, but the Knights made all six of their free throws down the stretch and hung on for the win.
The Knights will play Miramar (5-1) in the semifinals of the Palomar tournament on Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner will advance to the tourney championship on Sunday, November 25 at 5 p.m.
