They kept up the fight, but in the end it just wasn't enough. The no. 18-seeded Ventura College men's basketball team held a halftime lead at No. 2 El Camino-Compton Center Saturday night, only to fall to the Tartars 96-80 in the SoCal Regional Semifinals in Compton. Ryan Sells had a career-high 20 points off the bench to lead Ventura (18-13) in their final game of the 2016-17 season. Cordel Hankerson netted 18 points and Vida Faniel had 10 points with eight rebounds.
THe Pirates dug a hole early, trailing 8-0 within the first 1:22 of the game. Eddie Cowan got VC on the board with an assist by Calvin Young, and the Pirates clawed their way all the way back to tie the score at 23 on Hankerson's dunk with 10:58 left in the first half. Trevor LaCount gave VC the lead on a tip in, and Hankerson and Isiah Reyes nailed back-to-back threes to put Ventura ahead 31-25 with 8:46 on the clock. The Pirates maintained the lead for the rest of the half, leading 48-46 at intermission.
THe teams traded buckets early in the second half, and Sells gave Ventura a 63-62 lead with 13:51 left i the game, but the Pirate offense could not keep up with the high-powered Compton attack. Vc definitely made a game of it, pulling to within three, 68-65, on Cowan's free throws at the 8:43 mark, but EC-Compton slowly distanced themselves from the orange and black as the game, and the season, came to a close. The Pirates ultimately saw their season come to an end by the final score of 96-80.
Cowan, a sophomore, closed his VC career with eight points and seven assists. Young handed out six helpers with eight points. Reyes turned a nine-point effort.
THe Pirates must now say good-bye to four sophomores, Cowan, Faniel, Hankerson and LaCount.
"This sophomore group really helped us get back to our culture of Ventura College basketball," head coach Joey Ramirez told the Ventura County Star. "I'm proud of them."