No. 16 Hancock Men's Basketball Falls 61-56 at Cuesta, Drops One Game Out of First

Despite 18 points from Shane Carney and a career-high 12 points from Mayowa Akinsanya, the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team lost 61-56 at rival Cuesta College on Wednesday evening in a key Western State Conference game. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 15 in the state poll, saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end and fell out of the tie for first place. Hancock fell to 7-2 in conference action and 20-9 overall. Ventura routed Oxnard 103-80 on Wednesday to improve to 8-1 in league and 20-8 on the season. The Pirates moved one game ahead of Hancock in the standings with one conference game remaining.

Trailing 59-56 with 12 seconds remaining, Hancock had the ball coming out of a timeout. However, Glenn Jordan's shot from beyond-the-arc missed and the Cougars rebounded the ball, drew a foul and clinched it with two free throws.

Behind 11 points from Carney, the Bulldogs carried a 28-27 lead into halftime. The Cougars took the lead for good midway through the second half behind several offensive rebounds that led to several second-chance points.

Carney finished with a game-high 18 points and two assists. The sophomore hit two 3-pointers on the night to pull to within three of tying the school record for most 3-pointers made in a single season.

Akinsanya finished with 12 points and one rebound. Devin Davis added seven points, four rebounds and two assists. Trenton Mitchell pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds to go with six points. Spirit Ricks, who picked up his fourth midway through the second half, was held to six points and nine rebounds, six came on the offensive end.

Iker Cruz led the Cougars with 13 points. Noah Saunders added 12 and Nic Gabsch chipped in 10 to help Cuesta improve to 5-4 in conference and 15-15 overall.

The Bulldogs close the regular season at home at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17 against Oxnard. Hancock needs to beat the Condors and Santa Barbara to knock off Ventura to earn a share of the conference title.