Ventura College men's basketball team fell to Cerritos College 66-58 in their opener of the Irvine Valley College Classic. Elijah Brown carried the Pirate offensive attack with 20 points in the game to go with three rebounds and two steals. Jacob Alonzo contributed 12 points with six rebounds and two steals.
Returning to the court for the first time in 11 days after falling in the championship game of the We Play Hard Tournament, Ventura (2-2) showed some rust in their offensive game. In the first half the Pirates were able to hold down the Falcons offense enough to hold a 25-24 advantage after one half of play. The Pirates who attacked from beyond the three point arc all game long were only able to hit on 16 percent of their 3-point shots in the first half and just under 31 percent from the field. Their aggressive defense and hard work on the boards helped to keep the Pirates ahead.
The second half though saw Cerritos able to mount an offensive attack outscoring the Pirates by nine points in the final twenty minutes as the Pirates were unable to get on track from beyond the arc.
Ventura utilized their solid work on the boards collecting 39 rebounds in the game with Alonzo topping the Pirates, but Josh Watterson and Trevor LaCount each picked up five rebounds. Their defensive pressure gave the Falcons fits during the game forcing 18 turnovers and collecting 10 steals as a team. Jalon Wilson paced the Pirated with four steals in the game.
Ventura will return to action on Friday Nov. 20 at 2:00 pm against Imperial Valley in the consolation semifinals of the IVC Classic. With a win, VC will advance to wrap up the weekend on Saturday Nov. 21.