The VC men's basketball team returned home Tuesday and moved their winning streak to six games with a 102-77 win over Santa Monica at the Athletic Event Center. Lamont Landers and Dondre Watson each scored 12 points, leading seven players who scored eight or more points in the victory over the Corsairs.Isiah Reyes and John Williams each totaled 11 points and Malcolm Ruff had 10 for Ventura (8-2). Jacob Alonzo tallied nine points while Taylor Sturgeon contributed eight.
Santa Monica started the game counting by three while the Pirates counted by two. The Corsairs hit three 3-pointers to take a 9-6 lead with 16:02 remaining in the first half. Ventura went ahead for good with an 8-2 run at that point with buckets by Darrell Handy-Johnson and Reyes, and a pair of scores from Ruff. With the Pirates ahead 16-14 at the 11:22 mark, VC took over the game with a 16-5 run over the next five minutes. Williams started the run off with a deuce, and Reyes hit for two and for three on back-to-back possessions. Sturgeon hit from range, as did Alonzo, who completed the run with an old-fashioned 3-point play. VC led 32-19 with 6:40 left to play in the half. The Pirates continued to ride the wave of momentum and led 49-33 at halftime.
Ventura continued to pull away in the second half as every player on the floor got into the act. All 13 Pirates who suited up Tuesday night played significant minutes, with all 13 scoring at least three points.
The Pirates will next head to Lancaster for the Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament at Antelope Valley College. VC opens with Los Angeles Harbor College on Friday Dec. 1 at 3:00 pm.