Cuesta sinks Vaqueros 70-56 in WSC North opener

After building a 29-22 halftime edge on Saturday night, Cuesta went on a 14-2 run to open the second half on the way to a 70-56 win over visiting SBCC in a WSC North men's basketball opener at San Luis Obispo.

The Cougars (8-11, 1-0) outshot the Vaqueros 51.6 to 38.7 percent in the second half and 45.0 to 33.3 percent for the game. Cuesta's Noah Sanders hit 11-of-16 field goals and posted game highs with 29 points and 12 rebounds.

Robert Hutchins led the Vaqueros (2-15, 0-1) with 19 points on 8-19 field-goal shooting and 3-7 from 3-point range. Ben Clay had 14 points and nine rebounds while Tyler Crandall added seven points and a season-high 10 rebounds.

The Vaqueros only used six players and Cuesta played nine.

The Cougars held a narrow advantage in rebounds (38-37) and 3-pointers made (8-6). The biggest difference was on 2-pointers with Cuesta knocking down 51.4 percent (19-37) and the Vaqueros making 32 percent (15-47).

SBCC will play its first home game at the Sports Pavilion in nearly six weeks on Wednesday when the Vaqueros host Oxnard at 5 p.m. That will mark the public debut of the new bleachers.