Pirates Start Fast, Finish Strong Against Brahmas

The VC men's basketball team opened an 18-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game and never looked back Monday night in their 97-55 victory over LA Pierce at the Athletic Event Center. All 13 players for the Pirates reached the scoring column led by Jelani Bell's 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Anthony McIntyre scored 12 and Adrian McIntyre netted 10. Shulton Tobin and Anthony Garza each posted nine points in the runaway win for Ventura (20-2, 8-0).

Garza opened the scoring on the opening possession for the Pirates, ranked No. 2 in Southern California. Anthony Mc. followed with a traditional 3-point play before Tobin and Garza each hit field goals for a 9-0 VC edge less than two minutes into play. Ventura answered a pair of Brahma scored with 3-pointers by Anthony Mc. and Aaron Dawoodjee before Garza hit one of two free throws and Adrian Mc. scored a bucket as VC opened up its 18-4 advantage with 16:17 remaining in the first half.

The Ventura defense kept the pressure on Pierce as the Brahmas made just two field goals over the next 10 minutes of game time. The Pirate offense, meanwhile, kept clicking along, opening up a 38-13 lead at the 6:29 mark on a bucket by Darius Butler. VC led 51-22 at halftime.

The pace of play continued for VC in the second half as the McIntyre brothers accounted for the first 10 points for the Pirates, who stretched the lead to 61-27 five minutes in. Tobin hit for a pair of scores around a 3-pointer by Elijah McCloud, and Garza continued to find buckets in the paint. Ventura won the game going away, 97-55.

Garza had a team-best eight rebounds in the game along with three assists. Kordell Gordon added six boards to his eight points while Anthony Mc. pulled in seven caroms with three dimes. Caleb Geisendorfer had seven rebounds while McCloud pulled in five boards in the victory.

Ventura next hosts Oxnard College on Wednesday Feb. 16. Tip-off at the Athletic Event Center is slated for 5:00 pm.