The Pirates' men's basketball team was eliminated from the Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament with a 78-66 loss to MiraCosta College Saturday in Lancaster. Robert Hunt led VC (5-7) with 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and four assists while Jamal Lewis added 18 points. Vondel Faniel had 12 points and Eric Davis pulled in eight rebounds.
Ventura held a 15-10 lead at the 13:30 mark of the first half before the Spartans went on a 15-2 run over the next six minutes to lead 25-17. VC responded and tied the score at 27-27 on Hunt's 3-pointer with 5:40 on the clock. The teams went into intermission tied at 33-33.
In the scored half, Faniel converted three straight field goal attempts, and Lewis hit a bucket to make the score 41-37 three minutes into the period. MiraCosta came back and took a slim lead before another Hunt triple tied the score at 50-50 with 12:59 remaining.
The Spartans went on a 12-2 run over three-plus minutes to take control of the game, and held onto the advantage for the remainder of the contest. MiraCosta posted the 78-66 win.
THe Pirates are now off for nearly two weeks until playing Porterville College on Friday Dec. 19 at 2:00 pm at the Kirby Mannon, Pepsi/Holiday Inn Tournament at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia.