Brown Scores 31 as Pirates Fall to Raiders

In a battle of ranked teams the So Cal No. 15-ranked Ventura College men's basketball team traveled to face off with So Cal No. 8-ranked Moorpark College and fell 84-79. VC star Elijah Brown poured in 31 points for the game, his second 30+ point performance of the season while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Ventura (10-8, 0-2) fresh off a final seconds defeat to So Cal No. 11-ranked Cuesta looked to turn the tide on the road. A face off with cross-county rival Moorpark held more than just bragging rights on this night, but was sure to play a big role in the Western State Conference North division title race and in the polls. 

The Pirates picked up their first advantage of the game at the 16:50 mark when Steven Bush hit from 3-point range to go up 6-5 then pushed the difference to 11-7 on another Bush 3-point shot just over two minutes later. Bush scored nine of the first 11 points for Ventura. Timmy Garcia got the Pirates to a six point advantage when he hit from beyond the arc at 10:25 for a 17-11 advantage. MC was able to pull back within 21-18 at 8:09 to go in the half then came out of their timeout to tie the game at 23-23.

Another Garcia followed a strong run by the Pirates offense with Vida Faniel putting together a 3-point play by converting his foul shot and Jacob Alonzo his on three free throws all together put the Pirates up 32-27 with 4:00 to go in the half. When Bush hit on his fourth 3-pointer of the half it capped an 11-7 run by VC to take a 43-34 at the :15 mark and saw the Pirates go into the half with a 43-36 advantage and eyeing a big road conference win.

Bush topped the Pirates first half offense with 12 points while Brown added 10 points. 

The second half saw a Pirate offense which had been lethal from beyond the arc and shooting well from the field look to continue the trend. An early dunk from Trevor LaCount put the Pirates up 46-38 when MC took a timeout. Bush hit his fifth 3-pointer at the 15:50 mark for a 49-41 Pirate led, but the game started to swing away from Ventura after this.

Moorpark got to within one point at the 11:36 mark and the two teams were into a dogfight over the next seven minutes of play. The two teams were tied to 68-68 when Mooorpark went on a 6-0 run for a 74-68 advantage at the 4:30 mark. VC was not ready to quit and put together their own response run to get with 74-73 at the 3:50 mark to force a MC timeout. After the timeout Jamal Lewis completed his 3-point play opportunity and the game was all tied up 74-74 looking at an exciting finish between the two ranked teams. 

A Pirate offensive attack which had been hot from beyond the 3-point arc all night suddenly seemed to lose their touch. The Raiders capitalized on the opportunity to pull away on a 10-5 run to close the game and cap a 84-79 win. 

Bush finished the game with 17 points, three rebounds and one assist. Alonzo added nine points of the bench to  go with two assists and two steals. LaCount hauled in a team high seven rebounds and picked up two blocked shots. Jalon Wilson dished out five assists to front the Pirate offense.

Ventura will be on the road again against Los Angeles Pierce College on Wednesday Jan. 13 at 7:00 pm. Then return home to the Ventura College athletic event center to host Allan Hancock College Saturday Jan. 16 at 7:00 pm.