The Ventura College men's basketball team opened the 2015-16 season with a resounding victory over Pasadena City College 91-69 in the first round of the We Play Hard Tournament Thursday night at the Athletic Event Center. Cordel Hankerson led the Pirates with 15 points including four 3-pointers. Elijah Brown added 14 points with Dwayne Murrill putting in 12 points.
The Pirates (1-0) looked to start the season on a good note and, shaking off some early nerves they went to work on the offensive side of the court. With VC down 8-6 early in the first half, Jacob Alonzo hit a 3-pointer which kick started a 9-1 run for Ventura, the first of three offensive runs for the Pirates.
PCC took their first timeout at the 10:34 mark with VC ahead 19-10 and they netted a 3-pointer out of the timeout, but Ventura went to their long range game knocking down several triples over a 16-3 run to extend the advantage to 38-16 late in the first half. VC in total hit nine 3-point shots in the first half, with Hankerson hitting all four of his for the game in the half. Timmy Garcia hit two treys as well, with Alonzo knocking down a pair.
Up 46-29 with 2:45 left in the opening period, the Pirates came out of a timeout to close the half with 9-0 run. Ventura was in control of the game on both halves of the court attacking offensively and playing aggressive defense while maintaining control of the boards on the defensive end. VC led 55-29 at halftime.
Holding a large led going into the second half the Pirates again showed some early rust on the offensive end as they slowed their tempo down to protect their advantage. After four minutes the Pirates settled in offensively continuing to attack the basketball, but were just unable to convert scoring opportunities into points, but their defense continued to stymie any comeback attempt from Pasadena. With 10:00 left in the game the Pirates held a 75-53 advantage and never let off the pedal defensively. Each team scored 16 points over the final ten minutes and the Pirates picked up a 22 point victory 91-69, their largest win since 2013.
VC collected 39 rebounds led by Murrill with nine while Trevor LaCount added eight boards. Jalon Wilson provided contest pressure on the basketball and swiped four steals leading the Pirates team total of 13.
Ventura will take on Santa Barbara City College on Friday Nov. 6 at 7:00 pm in a semifinal match-up at the AEC. The winner will advance to the tournament championship game on Saturday Nov. 7 at 7:00 pm.