Despite another big night offensively, Cuesta guard Tom Schumacher couldn't help his team falling into a first-place tie with Ventura as the Pirates won, 70-66, in San Luis Obispo.

The Luxembourg native scored 26 points, 13 in each half as the Cougars, who had struggled in the opening 20 minutes over their first six WSC North games, raced out to a 34-19 lead through 15 minutes:

"Our first five to 10 minutes have not been the best, and we tried to change that. We knew this was a big game so we had to come out with energy."

This time, however, Cuesta could not hold on as Ventura scored 13 of the game's final 15 points to steal the victory:

"This game was like our whole season. We took a 15-point lead, but they came back. We made a good run, but they made a better run. I don't know what happened."

Schumacher was asked to compare where Ventura fits with the rest of the teams Cuesta has faced, including No. 1 and 27-0 Fresno City:

"Ventura is one of the toughest teams. I don't know why Fresno is still undefeated. Both of us (Ventura and Cuesta) can go far. It just depends. We have to start playing 40 minutes, not the 25 minutes we played tonight."