Garrick and Kinnebrew Lead Hancock Men to 55-54 Win at First Place Cuesta

Freshman Erik Kinnebrew finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds, while sophomore Marcellus Garrick scored a team-best 20 points to power the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team to a thrilling 55-54 win at first place Cuesta College on Wednesday evening. The Bulldogs won their first Western State Conference game of the year and handed the Cougars their first conference loss of the campaign. Hancock improved to 1-3 in league and 11-13 overall. The Cougars fell to 3-1 in league and 10-12 on the year.

Garrick hit two 3-pointers in the first half and had eight points in the opening 20 minutes to help Hancock carry a 26-20 lead into halftime. The second half was a back-and-forth contest that came down to the final possession as Cuesta missed a potential game-winning 3-point shot from the corner as time expired.

Garrick had nine rebounds overall, falling one shy of a double-double. The sophomore had four offensive rebounds to help the Bulldogs. Kinnebrew had 15 boards on the defensive end to come within one rebound shy of his career-high of 17. The freshman also had seven assists, falling three short of his second triple-double of the year.

Freshman point guard Nolan Willett scored seven points to go with eight assists and five rebounds. Willett had a key steal that he cashed in for a layup on the other end to tie the game with less than six minutes to go.

Hancock will look to continue its winning ways on Saturday, January 28, at 3 p.m. when the Bulldogs host Oxnard College.