Gauchos take home early hardware at Cuesta

The Saddleback men's basketball team is ranked #1 in the state to start the season and on opening weekend the preseason rankings looked accurate.  The Gauchos cruised through the Cuesta College Tournament, winning by an average of 23 points.

Saddleback opened with a blowout win over West Valley College, a Northern California program that won only 10 games last season.  The Gauchos led 37-13 at half and cruised to a 82-47 win to start the season.

Saddleback hooked up with Allan Hancock College in the semifinals and quickly jumped on the Bulldogs with a 41-30 lead in the opening half.  It was more of the same in the second half as the Gauchos cruised to a 79-58 win behind 19 points from freshman T.J. Shorts.

Saddleback was hoping to meet up with former assistant coach Perry Webster at Fullerton College in the finals but had to settle for host Cuesta after they dismissed Fullerton from the winner's bracket.  The Gauchos instead finished off the host Cougars in the finals, opening up a 42-26 lead at the break.  They took their foot off the gas pedal in the second half, cruising to a 78-64 win.  Sophomore Lyle Hexom finished with a game-high 22 points, making 10-of-15 shots from the field while also leading Saddleback with seven rebounds.  The Gauchos finished a blistering 32-of-47 from the field in the finals.

Hexom and Shorts were both named to the all-tournament team with Shorts winning the tournament MVP.

"We had some nice performances but found out we have a lot of things to work on," head coach Andy Ground said.  "It's a long season so we have to continue to get better if we want to meet our goals at the end of the year."

Saddleback has now won 15 straight games dating back to last season.  The Gauchos will open the Wild West Shootout against Santa Barbara City College on Friday, November 20, at West Los Angeles College.  Tip time at WLAC is 5:00 PM.