Notebook: Cuesta College men’s basketball team to host Moorpark Wednesday night

The Cuesta College men’s basketball team will play arguably its most significant home game of the season Wednesday night when the Cougars host Moorpark in a key Western State Conference matchup.

Cuesta (18-6, 5-0 WSC), ranked No. 13 in this week’s CCCMBCA poll, is the only remaining unbeaten team in the conference and brings a five-game winning streak into the 7 p.m. contest at Cuesta Gym.

A win against the second-place Raiders would give the Cougars a 6-0 record against teams from the North Division and provide some breathing room heading into the second half of the WSC schedule.

The Raiders (15-6, 4-1 WSC) have won 11 of their last 12 games, with the lone loss coming at home against Allan Hancock on Jan. 13.

That was a game Moorpark led at halftime but couldn’t hold on down the stretch as Allan Hancock made 16 3-pointers in the come-from-behind victory.

Last Wednesday, the Raiders turned in a remarkable shooting performance of their own during their win against Santa Barbara. Sophomore guard Justin Eisen poured in a season-high 31 points on 10-for-11 shooting from behind the 3-point line, nearly tripling his season scoring average.

As a team, Moorpark shot 65 percent from the field and 65.4 percent from beyond the arc en route to a 103-82 victory. They’ve since had a week off to prepare for a Cuesta team pursuing its third consecutive conference championship.

The Cougars beat Oxnard at home last Wednesday and defeated Allan Hancock in Santa Maria over the weekend. Sophomore center Roberto Mantovani has been dominant since the start of conference play, giving Cuesta an inside presence few teams can match.

The 6-foot-8, 235-pound Mantovani is averaging 20.8 points and 17.8 rebounds against teams from the Western State Conference. Sophomore forward Evgeniy Moiseev has improved his offensive production over the last five games as well, averaging 13.6 points and 9.2 rebounds during that stretch.

Following Wednesday’s game, Cuesta will begin its second run through the conference against Ventura at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Pirates (13-8, 3-2 WSC) began the week in third place in the North Division, two games back of the Cougars. They’ll need a victory Saturday to stay in contention for the conference title.

Cal Poly’s Krieghoff accepts NWSL invite

Former Cal Poly women’s soccer standout Elise Krieghoff accepted an undrafted free-agent invitation to attend preseason training camp with the Boston Breakers of the National Women’s Soccer League, according to a news release from the school.

The camp is scheduled for March 14 to March 28 at Harvard’s Jordan Field in Boston. Krieghoff, the Mustangs’ career scoring leader with 52 goals, will compete for a contract or a roster spot with the Breakers’ reserve team in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.

“I’m so excited to get an opportunity here in the states,” Krieghoff said in the news release. “The league offers college players in the U.S. a chance to play at such a high level. Most of the National Team plays in the NWSL, so to be able to play against them or with them is really exciting.”

Krieghoff finished her career as one of two four-time first-team all-Big West Conference honorees in the 20-year history of the conference. She now has the opportunity to join a Boston team that is one of the original eight members of the first domestic women’s pro league, the Women’s United Soccer Association.

Cal Poly baseball team starts practice Friday

Coming off a 27-27 campaign a year ago, the Cal Poly baseball team is scheduled to hold its first practice of the 2016 season Friday afternoon.

The Mustangs will feature a young team this spring, with two-thirds of the 35-man roster made up of underclassmen. Only two position starters return and the pitching staff lost 12 of the 27 victories to the MLB draft and graduation.

Under the direction of 14th-year head coach Larry Lee, Cal Poly will host its annual alumni game at 1 p.m. on Feb. 13 and open the season with a four-game series against Pacific on Feb. 19.

The Mustangs will play their first 12 games at Baggett Stadium, with UCLA and Michigan both scheduled to visit the last weekend of February.

Mustangs men’s golf fourth at Winter Intercollegiate

Cal Poly junior Justin De Los Santos shot a final-round 76 on Tuesday to help the Mustangs’ men’s golf team finish fourth at the 10-team Winter Intercollegiate hosted by UC Riverside.

De Los Santos, the defending Big West Conference individual champion, completed the three-round tournament 10-over 226 and tied for seventh place.

Jimmy Castles tied for 12th at 229 following a third-round 77. Cam Price and Jesse Yap also secured top-20 finishes, tying for 19th at 232.

UC Santa Barbara’s Brandon Bauman earned medalist honors after carding a 216, and teammate Zach Smith finished second at 218. The Gauchos (896) ran away with the team title and finished 14 strokes ahead of runner-up DePaul (910).

Cal Poly’s three-round total was 916.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Notebook: Cuesta College men’s basketball team to host Moorpark Wednesday night."