The Cuesta College men’s basketball team defeated Allan Hancock College in a battle of Western State-North Conference rivals, 69-66, on Saturday night inside Dr. Gilbert H. Stork Gymnasium.
It was Cuesta head coach Rusty Blair’s 500th career victory.
Cuesta started the game with 13-straight points before Hancock could even get on the board. The Bulldogs then rallied to tie the game at 27.
With under 20 seconds to go in the first half, Glenn Jordan gave Hancock the 29-27 lead by knocking down a floater as the shot clock expired.
The game of runs continued in the second half. Cuesta went on a 17-1 run to start the half, and it was capped off by an Alexander Karras three-pointer making it 44-30.
As expected, the Bulldogs barked back. Hancock cut the deficit to 50-49 with just over eight minutes to play as Tasson Thomas connected on a tough layup in the paint.
But Cuesta never relinquished the lead. Sophomore guard Josh Wilson-Murry nailed in the final dagger with a turnaround jumper in the corner putting the Cougars up by five with under three minutes to go.
With the win, Cuesta improves to 16-7 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Hancock’s loss drops them to 18-5 overall and 3-2 in conference play as well.
Cuesta returns to action next Saturday when they host Moorpark at 5:00 P.M. Allan Hancock will return to Santa Maria next Saturday as they take on Oxnard at 3:00 P.M.
