MODESTO — After Manteca pulled to within five points in the last minute of the first half, Modesto Christian’s Ross Widemon ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run and the Buffaloes did not score for the next five minutes as the Crusaders ran away with a 66-49 quarterfinal win in their own Holiday Hoop Classic.

“Right now, our guys are not absorbing what they are being asked to do,” Manteca coach Jason Hitt said. “They are not adjusting. They have been shown in practice what to do and they have been shown on the board what to do, but right now they just don’t want to do it.

“They are playing hard, that is a given for us. I thought Modesto Christian played way more physical than we did. We did not block out. They had way too many (offensive) boards and (Rashad) Cotton had his way with us.”

Cotton led all scorers with 19 points, and the Crusaders (5-1) pulled down 15 offensive rebounds – 41 in all – to 29 for Manteca (9-4).

Modesto Christian had a 15-point lead early in the second quarter when Evani Gaeta (13 points, nine rebounds) tallied four of his seven second-quarter points and dished off an assist to go with five points by Micah Crawford in a 16-6 run to close to within five points when Widemon (13 points) went on his six-point spurt and Manteca did not recover.

“In the second quarter we got a couple of guys in foul trouble,” Crusaders coach Brice Fantazia said. “We had to play four freshmen, and I think our defense suffered a little bit.

“I think the other three quarters our defense was outstanding, and to win basketball games right now we have to rely on our defense.”

Peyton Nieman led the Buffaloes with 14 points. Elijah Nelson added seven points. Santiago Sanders (four points) pulled down nine rebounds.

“They were a very good team,” Nieman said. “I try and get us prepared as a team and focused.

“We went out and played hard, but we gave up too many O-boards. As a team, we need to work harder.”

Manteca faces Clovis East this afternoon at 3:30 in a third-round game.