Ventura College men's basketball team finds itself in a wild conference title face with three teams all within one game of each other with four to play. VC stayed right in the race with a come from behind 80-70 road win over Allan Hancock. Elijah Brown topped the Pirates with 31 points as he continues his outstanding season. Cordel Hankerson added 14 second half points to help the Pirates rally for the win.
With the Western State Conference North men's basketball race far from over the Pirates (18-9, 8-3) were able to pick up a key victory the hard way. Ventura came out hot early in the first half going up 9-3 early and then holding a 15-14 advantage at the 10:52 mark, but Hancock went on a 6-2 over the next two and half minutes for a 21-17 lead. AHC was able to control the rest of the first half and as the Pirates struggled offensively they fell behind 36-28 going into the break.
Ventura righted their ship and were able to put together a stellar second half of offensive and defensive play to overcome their deficit. Brown and Hankerson set the tone on the offensive side of the court as the Pirates 52 second half points and allowed just 34 to the Bulldogs for the victory. During the second half the Pirates trailed by as much as 11 points at the 13:28 mark before going on a 8-1 run to cut the deficit to just four points. Then at the 8:29 mark VC took their first lead since early in the first half at 54-53 and went on to build off the advantage. Over the final eight minutes of game play the Pirates extended their advantage over the Bulldogs to double digits and closed out a ten point win to remain right in the thick of the title race.
Trevor LaCount added a double double to the Pirates victory putting in ten points and pulling down ten rebounds. Brown added six rebounds and six assists to his team high point total. Jalon Wilson dished out four assists and picked up two steals.
Ventura will return to the court on Wednesday Feb. 17 for a 7:00 pm game against Santa Barbara City College at the Ventura College Athletic Event Center. Then on Saturday Feb. 20 the Pirates wrap up their regular season with a 3:00 pm game at rival Oxnard College.