THREE-PEAT!!! Knights Clinch PCAC Title

The San Diego City College Knights clinched their third straight PCAC championship by getting an 81-71 home victory over Miramar coupled with Grossmont's upset win over second place Southwestern. The Knights remained undefeated at 13-0 in conference play and have a four-game lead over both Southwestern and Palomar with only three games left.

"I'm so impressed with our student-athletes," said head coach Mitch Charlens. "They and my assistants do everything. It''s incredible to 3-peat!"

This conference title is the fourth in the last five seasons and the 11th since 2004-05 when Charlens took the helm. Andy Ground guided the Knights to the 2021-22 championship as the interim head coach.

It's the first PCAC three-peat since they went undefeated 2016, 2017, and 2018.

The Knights, who have now won 11 games in a row and 23 straight conference games going back to last season, faced a Miramar team that was up to the challenge on Wednesday night and gave the Knights a battle. 

Miramar came out hot, shooting over 70% for most of the first half and grabbed a 37-30 lead. The Jets had multiple chances to extend their lead, but they committed three turnovers in the final 2:35 of the half and missed their final four shots, while Matin Madadkar's four made free throws got the Knights within three at the half. 

The game stayed tight in the second half although the Knights went ahead by seven on a layup from Junior Camacho with 7:47 remaining. Camacho scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half.

City held a 68-63 lead with 4:15 to go when Miramar scored four straight to get within one. Nearly two minutes later, Luke Hecht burried a 3-pointer from the left side off a pass from Camacho to push City's lead back up to four with 2:36 left.

Camacho scored on two more layups down the stretch and the Knights converted 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute to secure the win. 

Dylan Griffin recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. 

Pharaoh Amadi delivered 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Madadkar and Andrew Azebeohkai Jr. added 12 and 11 points, respectively. 

The Knights travel to MiraCosta on Friday at 6 p.m. and will play their final conference home game against Southwestern on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. They will wrap up PCAC play at Palomar on Feb. 20.