Cordel Hankerson poured in 31 points with 10 rebounds and three steals as the VC men's basketball team finished the first round of conference play with a 88-72 victory over visiting Santa Barbara on Saturday. Vida Faniel also had a double-double with 12 points and 14 boards as the Pirates (13-11, 4-1) remain in a first place tie with Cuesta with five conference games remaining.
It was a battle early as the Vaqueros opened up a five point lead midway through the first half, 20-15. SBCC led 22-17 at the 9:51 mark when Ventura went on a 10-0 run to turn the tables. Faniel made a pair of free throws followed by a Ryan Sells jumper and a lay-up by Thomas Frank. Isiah Reyes made two charity tosses and Sells connected for another deuce and VC led 27-22 with 6:31 remaining in the half. Santa barbara was within 29-27 with 4:39 on the clock before another Pirate run to close the half put them in control. Hankerson scored seven straight points on a 3-pointer, a two-pointer and two free shots and Paul Moore sandwiched two treys around a SBCC bucket as Ventura took a 42-30 advantage in to halftime.
Ventura maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, and when the Vaqueros tried to make a run, it was promptly beaten back each time by the Pirates. Hankerson had athunderous dunk to open the second half scoring, and Calvin Young beat back a mini SBCC run with a 3-pointer. Trevor LaCount had a pair of buckets inside and VC led 51-37 with 16:18 remaining. SBCC pulled to within 59-52 with 11:31 left, but four straight points by Hankerson ended the threat. Frank answered a SBCC bucket with a triple.
Santa Barbara's last gasp came with 6:12 on the clock when they pulled to within seven points once again, 70-63, but a 3-point play from Faniel, a lay-up from Hankerson and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Reyes put the game away. Ventura won going away 88-72.
Reyes came off the bench for 13 points, four rebounds and three steals. Calvin Young and Paul Moore totaled nine and eight points, respectively.
The Pirates end the first round of Western State Conference play with a 4-1 record, tied with Cuesta. Hancock, Oxnard and Santa Barbara are all tied at 2-3 with Moorpark sitting at 1-4. VC will host Allan Hancock on Saturday Feb. 4 at 5:00 pm. It will also be the Pirates' Barbeque Fundraiser beginning at 3:30 in the VC cafeteria. The game will be webcast live on the VC Sports Network.