The VC men's basketball team had a perfect ending to the regular season in their 87-71 win over visiting Cuesta College at the Athletic Event Center. Dayshone Henry had 17 points and nine rebounds while Timothy Turner totaled nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Pirates (21-7, 12-0) completed the first undefeated Western State Conference North Division campaign since the 2008 season. Thomas Dangerfield had 14 points and Dayveon Bates totaled 12 points as Ventura won for the 18th time in its last 21 games.
It didn't take long for the Pirates to jump on top of the Cougars. Henry and Tone Patton scored on VC's first two possessions, respectively, for the early 4-0 lead. Dangerfield hit a three at the 16:47 mark of the half to extend the advantage to 7-2, and Bates cashed in a dime from Turner for a slam dunk to make it a 10 point game, 15-5 at the 14:12 mark. The Cougars cut the VC lead back to single digits at the midway point of the half before Patton scored a deuce and hit one of two free throws to extend the margin back to 11, 28-17. Donavan Williams followed with a shot from beyond the arc at the 5:46 mark and Shulton Tobin completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to make the count 38-22 with 4:02 remaining. Dangerfield scored off a Donavan helper to extend the lead to 20, 42-22, before Cuesta scored the next five points. The Pirates led 44-30 at halftime.
Ventura came out on fire in the second half, outscoring Cuesta 13-5 over the first four minutes of play. Henry scored a deuce and Patton hit from range in the opening minute before Dangerfield converted two foul shots and Turner scored two. Bates followed with a field goal and Turner netted two more and VC led 57-35 at the 16:01 mark. After a Cougar two, the run continued as VC scored the next seven points, including a coast-to-coast drive by Tobin to go ahead 64-37 with 14:23 remaining in the game. Darius Butler hit a trifecta with 7:01 on the clock to extend the advantage to 75-46. The Pirates rolled in from that point, posting the 87-71 victory to finish the regular season.
Bates had eight rebounds to go with his 12 points and Tobin totaled nine points with five boards. Patton recorded eight and six and Butler marked seven points in the game.
The Pirates, who wrapped up their fifth straight WSC North Division crown last week, will now await their playoff seed to be announced Sunday evening. Fans can check www.VCweplayhard.com or VC Athletics social media for news of the upcoming CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoffs.
The VC men's basketball Class of 2020 was honored before Friday's game against Cuesta, the Pirates' final game of the regular season.