File photo – Drew Gillette

After being shut down for most of the past two weeks, the College of the Redwoods men pulled out an impressive 75-62 win over visiting Siskiyous in basketball on Saturday afternoon.

Drew Gillette led a balanced scoring performance with a team-high 16 points, while Jon Nchekwube scored 14 and played some strong defense against Siskiyous standout Cody Bauman.

“I though Jon played him so well today and Bauman still scored 29, which shows how good he is,” CR head coach Ryan Bisio said. 

Bradley Willis also had a good game and finished with 12 points, while Donald Willis and Brandon Lucas each scored 11.

The Corsairs had their first full team practice since Jan. 11 on Friday because of COVID protocols, and had been forced to postpone three straight games.

“What a difficult task to be shut down from practice for nearly two weeks and to dig out a conference win over a team that played very well,” Bisio said.

Gillette got the team going early with some big 3-pointers and “really stabilized us and allowed to find our footing,” Bisio said.

Lucas also had a big all-around game, while Brandon Johnson “made some really energetic plays that energized the crowd,” Bisio added.

The Corsairs are now 2-2 in the Golden Valley Conference and 12-5 overall, and they will host Feather River on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the first of three games next week.