No. 4 Knights Take Down State Champs No. 3 Fullerton
The No. 4 Knights hit the road for a big road game against the No. 3 team in the state and ruined Fullerton's banner night with a wire-to-wire 86-77 win over the Hornets with KJay Bradley leading San Diego City's offense with 21 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. Keavie Love finished with 16 points, his seventh double-digit output of the season from a reserve role.
The No. 4 Knights hit the road for a big road game against the No. 3 team in the state and ruined Fullerton's banner night with a wire-to-wire 86-77 win over the Hornets with KJay Bradley leading San Diego City's offense with 21 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. Keavie Love finished with 16 points, his seventh double-digit output of the season from a reserve role.
Fullerton celebrated their 2023 state championship with a banner unveiling before the game, but the Knights kept the party to a minimum as they started the game by knocking down three of their first four 3-point attempts to jump out to an 11-2 lead four minutes in.
The Knights stayed hot from beyond the arc throughout the first half as they hit seven of their 12 attempts (58.3%) to help them build a 19-point lead. Bradley put lots of pressure on Fullerton's defense by scoring 14 first half points, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
City shot 46.2% in the first half while making 16-of-18 free throws and held Fullerton to 37.5% shooting.
San Diego City took its largest lead of the game, 62-42, after a pair of free throws from Love with 12:24 left in the second half, but the state champs did not go away easily. With the Knights up by 15 with 1:40 remaining, the Hornets made one last run and cut City's lead down to 84-77 with 29 seconds, but that would be the closest they got.
Love had two steals and two made free throws in the final 24 seconds to help secure the big win, the Knights' fifth in a row and their sixth victory over a ranked opponent this season.
The Knights won the rebound battle, 38-21, with 10 offensive boards leading to a 14-0 advantage on second chance points.
Kevin Moore had 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists, and Alex Crawford added 12 points with seven rebounds.
Dexter Stratton contributed eight points and seven boards off the bench.
The Knights will play once again on Saturday afternoon against No. 13 West L.A. at Fullerton College with the tip scheduled for 3 p.m.