Cuesta Men's Basketball remains an enigma.  The Cougars, at their best, have taken teams like #13 Merced and #24 West Hills-Lemoore to overtime and pushed #18 Cerro Coso to the end, but tonight's Western State Conference opener was not that night.  The rival Pirates jumped out to a 57-35 lead at the intermission and cruised to 106-74 victory in Cuesta's WSC home debut.  Cuesta opened WSC play with a win at Santa Barbara, 74-54, on Wednesday, but Ventura pulled them back to even against the circuit.  The visiting Pirates were led by Dominick Contreras and Chris Gilbert, with 32 and 23 points, respectively, while Cuesta's TJ Maveety paced the Cougars with 20 points.  Sophomore Forward Ignacio Diaz (pict) came off the bench to contribute a dozen points and provide the Cougars with another double-digit scorer, while Point Guards Stevie Waiters and Jabral Ray filled out their scorecards.  Waiters added seven points and game-high seven assists and Ray grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to match his eight points.  The setback dropped the Cougars to 6-12 on the season and 1-1 in WSC play.

The Cougars have proven that they can play with anyone, however their success has been a matter of finding the right combinations against each foe.  The Cougars have 11 players, out of 14 that have earned more than a cup of coffee in the starting line-up, but only three players have tipped off in more than 10 of their 18 games.    The Cougars shall look for a winning combination next week as they dive deeper into their Western State Conference schedule next week with two more games against the loop.  The Cougars travel to nearby Santa Maria on Wednesday (5 PM) to face local Allan Hancock and return to the friendly confines of Stork Gym to host Oxnard on Saturday (3 PM). Both contests will be the opening act of a WSC Men's and Women's Doubleheader, with the women playing the nightcap.