The Knights were tied with Mesa in the final minute, but it was the Olympians who prevailed, 73-69, after making 4-of-5 free throws down the stretch. It was the first time in six years that the Knights had suffered a loss to Mesa. The last time came on January 13, 2007; a streak of 11 games.
The Knights, who were without Head Coach Mitch Charlens due to the birth of his third child, had four players in double figures including Trevor English who led the Knights with 16 points and six rebounds. Anthony Poindexter and Kyle Anderson each had 14 points, while Justice Howard added 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
SDCC fell behind by seven points in the first half, but ended up with a 32-29 halftime lead. After the break, the Knights came out looking like they wanted to put the game away by starting the second half with an 11-2 burst to build a 12-point lead, their largest of the game. Mesa, however, chipped away at the Knights' lead and got it down to one point with 7:11 remaining. Bren Haley responded with a 3-pointer and Jovan Griffin converted on two free throws to extend City's lead to six points, but Mesa kept fighting and used a 9-2 run to take a 64-63 lead with 3:17 left.
After the Knights tied it at 66-66, Travon Jones made 1-of-2 free throws to give Mesa the lead. On the Knights' next possession, Iglehart missed a jumper, but Anderson grabbed the rebound and made a layup to give the lead back to the Knights with 1:05 remaining.
On the other end, Jones made 1-of-2 from the line once again and tied it at 68-68 with :43 left. On the ensuing possession, Iglehart was fouled, but missed a pair of free throws that could have given the Knights a lead. After two made free throws by the Olympians' Jon Briscoe, Iglehart drove the lane once more, but missed the potential game-tying layup. Mesa's Otis Barrow, who had a game-high 21 points, sealed the victory after making 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds.
Turnovers were a major factor as the Knights committed 27 of them, which led to 27 points for Mesa. After starting the conference season with two straight wins, the Knights have now lost three in a row. They are 12-11 overall and 2-3 in the PCAC.
