Cuesta Men's Basketball and Ventura have dominated the Western State Conference for most of the past three decades.  Cuesta Coach Rusty Blair took over the program in 1993, amid the Pirates' string of ten consecutive titles.  It took Blair a few seasons to re-build a program that had boasted only 46 wins over the previous seven seasons.  It took Blair just two seasons to make the playoffs and two more to claim his first WSC Crown and nobody has won more than his ten titles.  Tonight, the Cougars knocked off Ventura, 73-57 and improved to 13-7 on the season and evened their conference record at 2-2. 

The Cougars jumped out early thanks to Freshman Guard Shinichi Itoh's sharpshooting.  Itoh knocked down five of his eight three-point shots in the game, while also going 6-for-6 from the 'charity stripe', to post a career-high 23 points.  His long-range performance attracted the Bucs' defenders and opened his teammate, Center Alessandro Perotti, to control the paint and clinch the Cougars victory.  Perotti posted a double-double with game-highs of both 25 points and 12 rebounds.  The inside-outside duo were the only Cougars to reach double figures on the score board, but returning all-WSC Guard Stevie Waiters came off the bench to wreak havoc with nine points and eight rebounds. 

Cuesta Men's Basketball Coach Rusty Blair is currently in his 33rd season at the helm.  His overall record at Cuesta is currently 572-427, which means he shall coach his 1000th game with the Cougars this Saturday (5 PM), when Cuesta hosts Los Angeles Pierce.  Blair passed former Cuesta Men's Water Polo Coach Terry Bowen's (556 wins) for the all-time school win record last year and has now coached more games for Cuesta College than any other mentor since athletics officially kicked-off on September 25, 1965.  This Saturday's game, and the chance of the post-season, should make things a little tougher for Cuesta Baseball Coach Bob Miller.  Miller begins his 23rd season with 862 games as the Cougars' Skipper.