Santa Cruz Sentinel

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SAN BRUNO — They’re moving on.

The Cabrillo College Seahawks won their second straight game in the Northern California Men’s Basketball State Playoffs Wednesday, knocking off 12th-seeded Skyline, 68-64, to advance to the tournament semifinals against Coast Conference foe Hartnell, Saturday in Salinas (7 p.m. tipoff).

The 28th-seeded Seahawks (15-17) lost close games to conference champion Hartnell twice this season. But a victory Saturday would send the team to the California State Championships March 13 and 15-16 at the University of San Diego.

Wednesday it was a combination of inside-outside play that pushed Cabrillo past a team that had beaten it by nine points earlier in the season. The Seahawks got 17 points down low from 6-foot-11 center Matt Towsley to go with the outside touch of Vince Inglima (19 points, three 3-pointers), Tyler Williams (15 points on five 3s), Eldridge Henderson (15 points) and Demar Walton (11 points).

"We put teams in a dilemma when we do that," Cabrillo coach Tony Marcopulos said of his team’s ability to move the ball inside and out. "They double-downed on Matt (Towsley) hard and we were able to kick it back out and then get it back into him."

Towsley, a second team all Coast Conference South selection, squared off with 6-foot-9 Tremaine Fuqua, who signed early with Oklahoma State. Fuqua even knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 38-37 Skyline lead.

But the Seahawks managed to get Fuqua into foul trouble in the second half, helping their cause on the boards.

In Hartnell (23-11), Cabrillo will face a team that hadn’t lost a conference game until the season finale against San Jose City.

"Both games (we played against them) were close. The teams know each other real well," Marcopulos said. "We just need to continue to defend the way we have been and continue to get the ball into the big fella (Towsley)."

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