Last week the Cougars split a pair of games at the Allan Hancock Holiday Classic in Santa Maria.  Cuesta dropped its opener to perennial powerhouse Fresno City, 82-52, but bounced back to edge MiraCosta, 75-74.  In the tournament opener, the Rams jumped to a 21-point first half lead, but Guards Jayden Ares (pict-L) and Jeffrey Bujan came off the bench to post new personal season-highs and lead the Cougars' second-half surge against Fresno with 17 and 13 points, respectively.  In the tournament finale, 2023 All-WSC Guard Drew Ardouin knocked down a game-high 29 points, however it was Freshman Forward TJ Maveety (pict-R) who was the eventual deciding factor in a see-saw battle with MiraCosta.  Maveety's steal and a layup, at just below the two-minute mark, provided the Cougars with their first lead of the 4th quarter, and he followed it with another lay-up on the next possession, which was the eventual game winner.  The Spartans split a pair of free throws to pull with a point but missed their final four shots of the game to give the Cougars the victory, 75-74.

Men's Basketball has rebounded from an 0-5 start to the season and enters the final week of non-conference play on a roll, after winning four of the past five games.  The Cougars play their final pre-Western State Conference games this week.  They host the College of the Canyons Cougars on Wednesday (5 PM) and travel to Glendale on Saturday (3 PM) for a men's and women's WSC Inter-Division contest against the Vaqueros.  Cuesta is currently 5-9 on the season.