Following a back-and-forth opening half, College of the Canyons men’s basketball eventually fell too far behind to catch up, taking an 80-55 home loss from Cuesta College at the Cougar Cage on Saturday, Dec. 7.

Canyons (2-7) had three players reach double digits, led by 18 from sophomore Raz Orbach.

Donovan Cornelius and Justin Perez both finished with 10 points in the game. Stacy Webb led the reserves with six points while Gilad Ziegel chipped in with four points and a team-high six boards off the bench.

Wyatt Wilson returned to the COC starting lineup with four points, five rebounds, a steal and an assist.

The Cougars trailed 30-25 after the first 20 minutes as both teams struggled to find a shooting rhythm.

Cuesta (7-3) shot just over 39 percent in the opening half but got hot down the stretch and finished the game at a mark of nearly 48 percent.

Alessandro Perotti led Cuesta with 19 points, including 12 in the second half, while Shinichi Itoh added 16 to help lead the way.

Perotti’s 11 rebounds were also a game high. That performance helped Cuesta to a 42-23 rebounding edge. Canyons also committed 20 turnovers in the game to aid the visiting team.

Canyons has lost back-to-back games heading into the Dec. 13 non-conference tilt with visiting L.A. City College. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast to fans free of charge on the Cougars Sports Network.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by visiting COCAthletics.com and on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.