Andrew Douby hit the game-clinching free throw with 2 seconds left for Allan Hancock College, and the Cuesta men’s basketball team failed to get off a quality shot on the final possession in a 70-69 loss to the host Bulldogs in Friday’s championship game of the last preseason tournament before the start of Western State Conference-North play.
Though the Cougars (13-4) trailed by only two at the half, they fell behind by as many as 14 midway through the second before all-tournament honoree Plamen Hristov got Cuesta back in the game with a team-high 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Hristov was 8-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range, most of which came in the final 10 minutes, Cougars head coach Rusty Blair said.
“You think you’re out of it, then all of a sudden one guy gets hot, and you’re right back in it,” Blair said. “It was anyone’s game.”
Jordan O’Byrne led Hancock (13-4) with 24 points, erupting for 18 points and four 3-pointers in the first half before cooling off. Douby finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Abraham Millsap scored 12, and Alex MacNeil had 11 for the Bulldogs.
Kenny Robinson scored 11, and Malte Kramer added 10 for Cuesta, which made three tournament championship games this season, winning one.
WRESTLING
Cal Poly’s Smith falls at Midlands
Mustangs senior 197-pound grappler Ryan Smith lost his final match in the wrestleback quarterfinals at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championship at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern.
Smith, who won three of four matches as the 12th seed Thursday, was pinned by No. 6 Danny Mitchell of American in 1 minute, 47 seconds.
Cal Poly’s other four entries were eliminated Thursday.
The Mustangs return home for a pair of dual meets next weekend, hosting American on Friday at 7 p.m. and Boise State for a Pac-12 match Sunday at 1 p.m. Both dual meets will be held in Mott Gym.
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