The Knights erased a 12-point first half deficit on Thursday night and went on to earn an 85-69 victory over Yuba College to advance to the CCCAA state championship semifinals for the first time in their history.
Darien McClain led the Knights once again with 23 points and continued to shoot well from beyond the arc by connecting on 4-of-6 three-pointers. McClain scored 10.7 points per game during the regular season, but has averaged 27.3 points in three postseason games so far and has hit 15-of-22 threes.
Yuba scored the first 11 points of the game and took its biggest lead at 17-5, but the Knights answered back with a 19-5 run to take their first lead at 24-22 on a three-pointer from Robert McCoy, who provided 12 points off the bench.
McClain hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:43 of the first half to help the Knights to a 37-32 halftime advantage.
The Knights started the second half with a 19-5 surge to take their largest lead of the game, 56-37, with 11:43 remaining. Yuba, who was led by Brandon Ruaro's 17 points, got to within 10 points with 1:54 left, but that was as close as the 49ers would get.
Alex Wilbourn scored 14 points and Marcus Brumsey added 10 in City's win.
The Knights turned 22 Yuba turnovers into 30 points. They also got had an 18-6 advantage on fast break points.
The Knights, who now own the best record in team history at 29-5, will face City College of San Francisco (29-2) in the semifinals on Saturday, March 11 at 3 p.m. The winner will play in the CCCAA state championship game on Sunday, March 12 at 1 p.m. against either Fullerton or Feather River.
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on SoCalCollegeSports.com.
