Huntington Beach, Calif. - It has been 21 days since the men's basketball team hit the hardwood in a win over Cuyamaca on December 30 when they fell to a tough OEC opponent, Cypress College, 99-71 Friday afternoon. 

The Rustlers were able to jump out to an early 9-2 lead as the Chargers were also playing in their first action of 2022. The offense would go cold for the Rustlers over the next five plus minutes as the Chargers used a 17-0 run to take the momentum and the lead back in the first half. Golden West would put together a 15-5 run to close out the first half down 49-31.

Sophomore forward, Eric Watson led the Rustlers with 15 of his team high 28 points in the first half as swing man Ricky Briseno entered halftime with five rebounds and three assists. 

Golden West couldn't slow down Cypress in the second half as they were able to make it an 11 point defecit with 9:36 remaining. That would be as close as the Rustlers would make it, Cypress was able to pull away late for the 99-71 victory.

Sophomore guard, Maliq Neurell chipped in 16 points and Kameron Small netted 11 points in the loss.

The Rustlers will host Santa Ana tomorrow (1/22) at 11am in a rescheduled game due to health and saftey protocols on 1/12/22. You can catch the live action on our YouTube channel, Golden West Athletic Events.