UPDATE:( 8:10 p.m. Feb. 22, 2016): The Raider basketball team found out earlier Monday afternoon that they are seeded at No. 8 for the CCCAA playoffs. Moorpark will play this Friday night at home against No. 9 seed Bakersfield College in the second round. The game is tentatively scheduled for a tip off at 7 p.m.

Raider pavilion was rocking as the men’s basketball team captured the 2016 WSC Conference championship, defeating Cuesta College 107-100 in double overtime on Saturday, Feb. 20.

The Raiders made valiant efforts to come from behind all night, and saved their best defense for the final 30 seconds of the second overtime when they had to hold off Cuesta’s efforts to attempt to win or tie the game.

Head Coach Gerred Link appeared to have a weight lifted off his shoulders after the game as he was extremely proud of his team for capturing the conference title.

“The resolve the guys showed and grit, and fortitude to just keep coming back after it felt like we couldn’t get a stop for 44 minutes in the game,” said Link. “I couldn’t be prouder of the group to get that done.”

Besides the fact the game had a conference title on the line, the final regular season home game for Moorpark was also Sophomore Night, celebrating a talented group of sophomores who will be continuing play for Moorpark for at least another game.

Joshua Brooks, one of those sophomores and also one of the team’s leading scorers, was thrilled to be a WSC champ.

“It means a lot, especially since this is our coach’s second year, and we were so close to it last year,” said Brooks. “We just worked so hard and did what we had to do to pull it off this year.”

Another leading scorer for the team all season was sophomore Reggie Dixon. Dixon also made some big plays in the final minutes of overtime to help propel Moorpark past Cuesta. Dixon never worried about the team falling behind late in the game and knew they team could pull it off.

“Me personally, I wasn’t worried,” said Dixon. “I was trying to stay composed the whole time. That’s what you gotta do in close games, stay composed to pull it out.”

Sophomore guard Justin Eisen had sentiments of excitement to be a conference champion and continue to play for Moorpark and potentially win a state title.

“I’m so excited,” said Eisen. “We believe we are one of the best teams in the state. We have all the talent, we just need to keep working hard and keep playing.”

In regards to preparation for their first playoff opponent, Link stated that there won’t be a whole lot to change-up in the week leading up to the game.

“We won’t change a ton,” said Link. “We’ll see who we play first and if a team does play a drastic style, we will change it up a bit. Hopefully we can be relatively prepared for what one of these teams do.”

The opponent, date and time are still not determined for Moorpark. For now, the men’s team will enjoy their conference title!