VC Runs Away from Cuesta, Wins 112-83

The Pirates' men's basketball team ran away from visiting Cuesta, defeating the Cougars 112-83 Wednesday at the Athletic Event Center. Kam'Ron Cigar led another balanced VC attack with 22 points and Jerimiyah Smith netted 21 points with nine rebounds. Jeremiah Wilson totaled 16 points while Snookey Wigington tallied 15 points with nine assists and seven steals. Kevin Anigbogu was the fifth Pirate in double-figures with 13 points.

The first half was a battle early with Cuesta coming out to take leads of 5-3 and 9-8. Wilson and Smith each made lay-ups to put Ventura (17-3, 4-0) up for good, 12-9, with 15:43 left in the first half, but the Cougars kept things close, for a while.

After Dabe Princewill hit a three to extend the VC lead to 10, 27-17, Cuesta continued the fight. They pulled to within 31-25 with a three at the 8:57 mark. It was all Ventura after that, however, as the Pirates went on a 15-3 run over the next three minutes to take complete control, 46-28. VC continued the onslaught as they led 61-41 at halftime.

Ventura was never threatened in the final period, building the advantage to 30 points. Cigar made a 3-pointer with 12:47 remaining to give the Pirates an 86-56 edge and Anigbogu made a pair of free throws to push VC past the century mark 100-69, with 6:36 remaining.

In addition to five double-digit scorers, Ventura also had Baron Bellamy, Princewill and Tong Tong all score eight points each. Tong also pulled in seven boards.

The Pirates, ranked No. 8 in the latest 3C2A rankings, next travel to Allan Hancock on Saturday Jan. 24. Tip-off against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 1:00 pm in Santa Maria.