Cuesta Men's Basketball has endured an up and down season, but with three games left there remains a glimmer of hope for the playoffs.  The Cougars, who beat Pierce, 85-50, last Saturday, are a game behind both Allan Hancock and #6 Ventura in the Western State Conference standings.  The Cougars need to win all three of their games this week and get help against the Pirates and Bulldogs from the rest of the circuit.  Cuesta opens its final week against Oxnard on Monday for a COVID make-up game.  The Cougars beat the Condors by one-point, 76-75, in their first-round game in Oxnard.  On Wednesday, Cuesta travels to Moorpark for a re-match with the Raiders.  The Cougars needed overtime in their first meeting to complete a comeback and triumph in SLO, 94-90.  Cuesta wraps up the 2021-22 regular season schedule this FRIDAY when longtime rival Ventura comes to town. The Pirates will also be playing their third game of the week and will have two more make-up games the next week.  The Bucs netted a three-pointer in the closing seconds of their first meeting to snatch a victory away from Cuesta, 71-69.  The Cougars won the 2019 Western State Conference title, the last full season before the pandemic, and advanced to the for playoffs the sixth time in seven seasons.  A big week and a little help could help them return to better times.

Last week, Cuesta dropped a pair of games to local rival Allan Hancock, before ending the week with a win over Pierce.  The Cougars travelled to Santa Maria to play Allan Hancock for a COVID make-up game, from January 15, on Monday.  The, finally healthy, Bulldogs jumped out to 20-point lead in the first half and held the Cougars to play even after the intermission for win, 66-51.  In the rematch two days later in SLO, the Cougars received 20-point performances from both 2021 Team MVP Darryl Brooks II and Freshman Forward Kobe Pearson, but the result was the same, a disappointing loss, 86-70.  On Saturday, the Cougars were back on the road and regained their footing by taking down Pierce, 85-70.  All five Cuesta starters scored in double-digits in the contest, including a team-high 19 points from Pearson.  Pearson also joined Brooks, who had 18 points, with a double-double, as they both pulled down a game-high ten rebounds.  The Cougars are trying to recover from their 4-11 start to the season and are currently 11-14 overall, while remaining in the WSC title hunt with a 6-3 record against the loop.