The San Diego City College men's basketball team opened the 2015-16 season with an 80-65 home victory over Citrus College. Leonard Allen led the Knights with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks.
Sophomore Spencer Mattox came off the bench to score 16 points to go with five rebounds.
Citrus jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but the Knights used a 23-4 run to take a 27-15 advantage with 6:13 left in the first half. The Owls, however, fought their way back to within four points of the Knights by halftime at 43-39.
The Knights started the second half with six straight points that came off two layups and an alley-oop dunk by Allen off an inbound pass.
The Knights' lead ballooned to 17 points with 7:23 remaining and they were able to hold off the Owls the rest of the way.
City shot 56.3 percent from the floor and held Citrus to 30.0 percent.
Allen and his teammates outrebounded Citrus, 45-32, and outscored the Owls, 14-6, on second chance points.
Freshman guard Jahmere Mitchell was the only other Knight to score in double figures. He had 10 points and pulled down four rebounds.
The Knights' next game will be on Friday, November 13 in the opening round of the Knights Invitational tournament. Their opponent will be Porterville with the tip set for 5:00 p.m.
