Men's Basketball threw off their current slump by hitting the road to crush WSC rival Pierce, 82-54, in Woodland Hills.  The victory over the Brahmas completed the Cougars' first swing through the Western State Conference.  The Cougars hope having their first WSC victory under their belt signals a return to form.  The Cougars' 28-point triumph on Wednesday snapped a five-game Western State Conference slide and marked their widest margin of victory since beating current #24 Gavilan, 77-49, on November 12.  Those Rams were one of four current Top 25 teams the Cougars faced in their pre-conference schedule, where they gave up as many points as they scored, however the Cougars have lost by double-digits in four of their first six conference games.  Against Pierce, Guards Aaron Russell and Drew Ardouin scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead the Cougars, but it was the return to form of Guard Moritz Schneider (pict) that put the Cougars over the top.  The Swiss sharp-shooter came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting.  Schneider also added a handful of rebounds and a couple of assists to the Cougars' effort.  The victory broke a 26-day winless drought and moves the Cougars to 10-12 overall and 1-5 against the WSC.  

Cuesta travels to Santa Barbara City on Saturday (5 PM) for a re-match against the Vaqueros, who beat the Cougars in overtime on Monday.  Prior to this past Monday, the Cougars owned a 10-game winning streak over the Vaqueros that stretched back to the 2016 season.  The Cougars are 20-2 against their rivals to the South over the past decade.