The Cuesta College men’s basketball team won its last home game of the season on Wednesday against Los Angeles Pierce College, 71-68.

The Cougars found themselves trailing early, with LA Pierce going on an 8-0 run to start the game. A timeout by Head Coach Jamoni Barber for Cuesta helped them get going, and not long after, it became a close game at 15-12 early in the first half.

With a couple of minutes left in the first half, freshman Jakai Turner hit a three-pointer to take the lead, bringing the momentum to the Cougars just before half. The score was 33-32 at halftime.

“I told our sophomores that they needed to step up,” Barber said. “I told our freshmen they really need to bring something to the party”.

The Cougars and Brahmase started the second half off trading points with a score of 44-47 early in the second half. Free throws played a big role with the Cougars hitting seven in a row by Griffyn Kapao and Aiden Pearsall-Morgan.

Cuesta kept the LA Pierce offense from scoring, with multiple defensive stops by Corbin Rossi and eight rebounds from Jakai Tutler.  Although it was still close in the second half, these defensive stops and rebounds played a role in Cuesta’s win tonight. 

The game came down to the last couple of moments. With 15 seconds left and a score of 68-66, the Cougars ended up getting a stop and then knocking down free throws to finish with a 71-66 win.

“We’ve got guys who are really resilient, we’ve got leaders, and we have a great coaching staff,” Barber said. “We’ve got guys that are going to put each other in the right position to win games.”