The VC men's basketball completed its first of two circuits through the Western State Conference North Division with a perfect 5-0 record with a 93-82 victory at Cuesta College Wednesday night in San Luis Obispo. Isiah Reyes scored 20 points and four assists and Isaac Ramirez totaled 19 on a perfect 6-6 3-point shooting performance as Ventura (17-7, 5-0) maintained a one-game lead over Hancock and a three-game lead over Cuesta, Moorpark and Oxnard with five games remaining.
Terrell Handy-Johnson was dominant early with all 12 of his points coming in the first half. VC held a 12-7 advantage at the 12:26 mark of the opening half. Ventura extended the margin to 20-12 with 7:38 remaining on a jumper by Malcolm Ruff. Jacob Alonzo scored seven of the Pirates' next 11 points, and assisted on two more, as Ventura led 31-24 with 4:37 left in the half. Darrell Handy-Johnson netted six points i the closing moments of the period and Ventura led 41-32 at halftime.
Reyes and Ramirez both heated up in the second half, with the duo combining to score 34 of the team's 52 points in the stanza. The VC advantage remained fairly constant through the first seven minutes of the second half, then the Pirates began to turn things on. Reyes finished a break following an Alonzo steal and assist, then hit a triple to expand the lead to 12 points with 12:44 left in the game. VC then scored 10 points in the next two minutes, with a bucket by Ruff, two charity shots by Reyes, and three balls from Ramirez and Taylor Sturgeon, making it 65-51 halfway through the period. Ramirez then hit three more triples to keep the Cougars away, maintaining the Pirates' double digit advantage. Cuesta worked the margin under 10 points in the final two minutes, but a strong showing at the free throw line from Reyes and Ruff down the stretch sealed the 93-82 victory.
Alonzo flirted with a triple-double, posting 12 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and Ruff had a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards. Terrell H-J also netted 12 points in the victory.
Ventura begins the second round of conference play on Saturday Feb. 3 at Allan hancock College. The battle between the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the league begins at 5:00 pm in Santa Maria.