Men's Basketball is hosting the 54th Hinson's Tire Pros Tournament this weekend and opened tonight with a loss to Gavilan, 62-61.  The visiting Rams jumped out quick against the Cougars and never trailed in the first half, while taking a 29-25 lead into the intermission.  The Cougars came into this year's Hinson's Tournament chasing their first win of the season and battled back to briefly take the lead in the final minutes of the game, unfortunately, the Rams recovered the lead with just eight seconds to play, 62-61.  Cuesta Coach Rusty Blair called time out and to set up a final play, but the game-winner did not fall, so the Cougars search for the initial victory of the 2023-24 season continues as the Cougars fell to 0-3.  Returning all-WSC First Teamer Drew Ardouin and Freshman Angel Castellanos were the only Cuesta players to reach double-digit scoring totals in the game.  Ardouin scored a game-high 19 points, while Castellanos netted 11 points.  

Cuesta will swap partners with local rival Allan Hancock on Saturday.  The rival Bulldogs, who fell to Sequoias today, will take on Gavilan (3 PM), while the Cougars face Sequoias in the tournament finale (5 PM).