Cuesta jumped ahead 12-4 Wednesday night and never looked back in a 96-70 men’s basketball victory over SBCC at San Luis Obispo. The Cougars, ranked 20th in the state, avenged a 77-72 loss to the Vaqueros on Dec. 29.
Richard Somdah scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds for SBCC (10-13, 2-1), which suffered its first WSC North loss and had its season-high five-game winning streak snapped. Mark Keeten had 19 points and four rebounds while Ezra Fantl tallied nine points.
The Cougars (18-7, 3-0) moved into sole possession of first place in conference, thanks to 64 percent first-half shooting that produced a 53-29 lead. They hit 6-of-10 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.
Cuesta shot 50 percent from downtown (10-20) for the game while the Vaqueros made just 2-19 and shot 36 percent overall.
“We didn’t come out with the intensity we needed, considering it was a conference game on the road against a team we’d already beaten,” said Vaquero coach Morris Hodges. “They hurt us on the boards and played really well. They were more intense than we were.”
SBCC returns home Saturday for a 5 p.m. game against L.A. Pierce.
