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A poor start to the second half proved costly for the Corsairs, who dropped their opening game at the Santa Rosa men’s basketball tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The College of the Redwoods men fell 91-87 to Yuba after leading by nine at halftime.

“A very bitter disappointment,” is how head coach Ryan Bisio described it. “After being up double digits late in the first half, we just didn’t come out with the proper focus to start the second half.”

Jon Nchekwube continued to impress offensively in the loss and finished with 23 points, while teammate Drew GIllette added 18 points and Donald Willis 16.

With the loss, the Corsairs dropped to 8-3 on the season.

And Bisio hopes it will be a wake-up call for his players.

“Yuba is an elite team,” he said. “They deserve credit for staying the course and finding a way.

I believe we’ll learn from this. The margin for error against a team like Yuba is so thin, 40 minutes of focus is a must.”

The Corsairs, who are defending tournament champions, continue tourney play at 2 p.m. on Friday against either Feather River or Mendocino.