Cuesta College men’s basketball team ends season with loss at Fullerton

The Cuesta College men’s basketball team fell 76-68 to Fullerton College in the second round of the California Community College Athletics Association playoffs on Friday night.

The Cougars finished the season 21-9 overall, having lost five of their final seven games. A frustrating second half of the year came to a close in a game marred by Cuesta’s uncharacteristic turnovers.

“They hit their free throws down the stretch and the game got away from us,” head coach Rusty Blair said.

The Cougars couldn’t overcome 17 turnovers, including 12 traveling calls. They shot 41.7 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers in the setback.

Freshman guard Daniel Solis came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points on 4-for-6 shooting from behind the 3-point line. He and fellow freshman Karem Özel scored 21 of Cuesta’s 30 first-half points.

“(Solis) was basically the guy who kept us in it,” Blair said.

Özel and Rafail Eleftheriou scored 12 points apiece for the Cougars, who held a 41-25 rebounding advantage.

Julian Richardson scored a game-high 25 points to lead Fullerton (23-8).

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Cuesta College men’s basketball team ends season with loss at Fullerton."