Pirates Rally Past Porverville in Milt Stowe Classic

The VC men's basketball team outscored host Porterville 20-7 in the final 7:43 of the game Friday to defeat the Pirates of the Central Valley 73-60 on the first day of the Milt Stowe Classic. Jerimiyah Smith netted 25 points in the game while Snookey Wigington and Christian Aukuso scored 14 and 12 points, respectively in the victory. Tong Tong grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

The home team took a 10-4 advantage early before Ventura came back on consecutive buckets by Tong and a pair of scores by Smith. Another three field goals by Smith, giving him a personal 10-2 run, put VC ahead ahead 16-11 with 12:23 remaining in the first half. Wigington's 3-pointer at the 5:45 mark of the period gave VC a five-point edge, 27-22, and Aukuso's lay-up with 3:07 remaining maintained the 34-30 lead for the Pirates. Porterville scored the final four points of the first half to tie the game at 34 heading to intermission.

The hosts made back-to-back three's to begin the second period, and they maintained an edge until Aukuso converted an assist from Kevin Anigbogu to knot the score at 42. Porterville answered and held on to the lead until Smith converted a pair of free throws for a 51-51 score at the 8:43 mark. The home team answered another bucket by Smith for a 53-53 tie when Smith made another charity shot and Baron Bellamy hit from range to give Ventura The lead for good. Smith and Wigington dominated the scorebook through the final buzzer, accounting for nine and seven points, respectively, down the stretch, to lead the Pirates to the 73-60 win.

Wigington also dropped eight dimes for Ventura (5-1)  while Smith and Jeremiah Wilson grabbed six and five rebounds, respectively. Tong added six points and three steals to his stat line for the evening.

Ventura will complete its two-game swing in Porterville on Saturday Nov. 22 for a 12:00 noon contest against Lemoore College.