Hancock Men Fall 69-60 to Cuesta in First Place Showdown

After starting the second half on a run to take a four-point lead, the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team could not hold onto the lead in a 69-60 loss to rival Cuseta on Wednesday in Joe White Memorial Gymnasium. The loss dropped Hancock into second place in the Western State Conference standings at 6-2 in league and 11-11 overall. Cuesta won its sixth in a row and improved to 7-1 in conference and 17-7 for the season.  

Lawrence Johnson led the Bulldogs with 20 points, five assists and three steals. Matt Willkomm and Andre Miller added 11 points apiece. Shamel Williams led the Bulldogs with nine rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.

Hancock trailed 30-25 at halftime after shooting 33 percent from the field to Cuesta's 38 percent. The Bulldogs started the second half on a 13-4 run to take a 38-34 lead with about 16 minutes to play. However, Cuesta started to heat up, while Hancock started to struggle from the floor.

The Bulldogs made 11 of their 35 shots (31 percent) in the second half, including two of their 11 (18 percent) from three-point range. Overall, Hancock shot 32 percent from the field (19 for 59) and made eight of 26 three-pointers (31 percent).

The Cougars made nine of 20 from long-range for a 45 percent mark, and hit 43 percent  (22 for 51) from the field overall. Cuesta held the rebounding edge at 35 to 33.