Plamen Hristov had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Mohamed Ali Ben Ammar had a career-high 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Cuesta College men's basketball team Cougars survived a late Vaqueros rally for an 81-75 win in Santa Barbara on Saturday night.
Cuesta led 48-28 at halftime, and the Vaqueros outscored the Cougars 47-33 in the second half of the Western State Conference Northern Division game.
Oscar Pedroso added 12 points, and Kenny Robinson had six points and six assists for Cuesta (15-9, 2-1 WSC-N).
WOMENSanta Barbara 72, Cuesta 70
Courtney Chadwick scored 20 points, and Alyssa Palma added 13 points and seven assists, but the Cougars (14-8, 2-1 WSC-N) fell for the first time in conference play after squandering a 10-point lead with five minutes left.
Jasmine Mata and Michelle Herrera led the Vaqueros (15-7, 3-0) with 13 points apiece.
Makenzie Brewster had 12 points and five rebounds, Miriam Zabinsky had 11 points and seven rebounds and Aria Johnson had 10 points and five rebounds for Cuesta.
The Cougars shot 59 percent at the free-throw line, hitting on 19 of 32 attempts.
