11th-ranked Cuesta jumped out to a stunning 20-0 lead in the game's first seven-plus minutes, and the Cougars led by at least 15 points the rest of the way in an easy 89-59 win over host Oxnard in WSC-North action Wednesday night.
In the opening minute of the game, Oxnard's Isiah Morales intercepted a Cuesta pass near the Condor free throw line and headed downcourt for a lay-up attempt. But when he reached the Cougar free throw line, he dribbled the ball off his knee and out of bounds.
And that's pretty much how the first seven minutes of the game went for Oxnard. Cuesta (14-7, 4-1) kept scoring and, when a Cougar missed another Cougar got the rebound. It was 10-0 after four mintues, 18-0 with 13:26 left and 20-0 with just under 13 minutes left in the first half.
And though Oxnard (2-12, 1-3) basically played the Cougars evenly for the next 20 minutes or so, the damage was already done. Deondre Edwards broke the Condor scoring drought with a driving lay-up with 11:52 left in the first half and Terrance Nunnery followed with a 3-pointer to make it 20-5, but that would be as close as Oxnard would ever get.
Cuesta pushed the lead back to 20 points when Rafael Casanova hit a step-back three to make it 25-5, and Keshawn Liggins pushed the lead to 24 points at 29-5 with about 9 minutes left in the half. The Cougars led, 49-30, at the break.
Midway through the second half, Oxnard made another run, drawing within 15 points again after another 3-pointer by Nunnery that made it 64-49 with 12:10 remaining. But once again, Oxnard never got any closer.
Evgeniy Moiseev rattled in a jumper to push the lead to 25 points at 78-53 with just under six minutes left. A 4-point play by Casanova made it 82-53 with 5:05 remaining. Casanova added two free throws with 3:42 left to push the margin beyond 30 points to 86-55.
Liggins led Cuesta with 21 pts, including 3 threes, and he also had 7 rebs, 2 asts and 5 steals. Casanova had 19 pts, 5 rebs and 4 asts, and Moiseev had 17 pts, 7 rebs and 7 asts. Tayler Thompson had a huge game in the middle with 14 pts, a game-high 15 rebs, 5 asts and 4 blocked shots.
For Oxnard, DeSean Scott came off the bench to score a game-high 26 pts, and he also had 7 rebs, 2 asts and 2 blocked shots. Nunnery had 12 pts, 4 rebs and 3 steals, though he was just 5-for-18 from the floor. Martinez had 11 pts, including 3 threes, plus 3 rebs and 3 asts. Carlos Gomez came off the bench for 2 pts and a team-high 7 asts.
box score
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - 5 pm
at Oxnard College
WSC-North
Cuesta Cougars 89:
1-Benat Hevia, PG - 3/7 fg, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
24-Keshawn Liggins, SG - 9/17 fg, 0/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl, 1 pf, 21 pts
32-Rafael Casanova, SF - 4/10 fg, 8/8 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 19 pts
33-Evgeniy Moiseev, PF - 5/10 fg, 4/4 ft, 7 reb, 7 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 17 pts
40-Tayler Thompson, C - 7/11 fg, 15 reb, 5 ast, 4 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
44-Rafael Eleftheriou, F - 0/2 fg, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
3-Daniel Solis, G - 1/1 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
12-Marcos Hazelwood, F - 1/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 4 pts
5-Ryan Welsh, G - 1/3 fg, 1 pf, 3 pts
35-Ben Peterson, C - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 32/64 fg (.500), 14/16 ft (.875), 46 reb, 28 ast, 6 blk, 12 stl, 10 pf, 89 pts
3-pt fg (11): Liggins 3, Casanova 3, Moiseev 3, Solis, Welsh
Turnovers (16): Hevia 4, Liggins 3, Casanova 3, Thompson 2, Moiseev, Eleftheriou, Hazelwood, Welsh
Oxnard Condors 59:
1-Robert Martinez, SG - 4/9 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
3-Deondre Edwards, PG - 1/4 fg, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
4-DaShaun Nixon, PF - 1/5 fg, 5 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
21-Juan Valdez, C - 2/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 stl, 4 pts
32-Isiah Morales, SF - 0/2 fg, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
12-Terrance Nunnery, F - 5/18 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 12 pts
20-DeSean Scott, F - 10/17 fg, 4/4 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 3 pf, 26 pts
42-Carlos Gomez, G - 1/9 fg, 3 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
10-Joshua Munoz, G - 1 stl, 0 pts
22-Erick Zambrano, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 24/67 fg (.358), 4/5 ft (.800), 31 reb, 16 ast, 3 blk, 11 stl, 14 pf, 59 pts
3-pt fg (7): Martinez 3, Nunnery 2, Scott 2
Fouled Out: Gomez 4:02 left
Turnovers (15): Nixon 3, Scott 3, Martinez 2, Edwards 2, Valdez, Morales, Nunnery, Gomez, Munoz
Halftime Score: Cuesta 49, Oxnard 30
Updated Records: Cuesta (#11-South) 14-7, 4-1 in WSC-N; Oxnard 2-12, 1-3 in WSC-N
Cuesta led 20-0 about 7 minutes into the game and by 15+ the rest of the way.
