The Pirates' men's basketball team returned to action for the first time in 20 months on Thursday, forcing 25 turnovers and holding Pasadena to 24 percent shooting from the floor in VC's 78-37 victory on the first day of the We Play Hard Tournament. Brothers Anthony and Adrian McIntyre led Ventura with 17 and 13 points, respectively, while Anthony Garza totaled 10 points. Anthony also had three assists and four steals in the triumph.
McIntyre, McIntyre and Garza powered the Pirates for the first eight minutes of the game as they raced out to a 13-2 lead. Adrian made a jumper to break the ice before Anthony scored a 3-point play to make it 5-0. Adrian assisted a Garza deuce to answer a Lancer score and Garza followed with a pair of free throws. Adrian then excited the partisan crowd filled with many VC student athletes with a thunderous dunk with 14:48 remaining in the first half, then scored a putback for a 13-2 Pirate advantage at the 12:46 mark. Jelani Bell and Anthony traded buckets for Ventura over the next couple of minutes as they augmented the margin to 18 points, 22-4.
Shulton Tobin hit a 3-pointer to push the lead past 20 points at the 6:37 mark and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Anthony concluded a 12-0 Pirate run for a 36-8 lead. Garza's lay-up with 2:47 remaining stretched the lead to 37 points, 48-11, before the Lancers ended the half on a 7-0 run. Ventura led 48-18 at intermission.
Garza opened the second half with a pair of field goals and Aaron Dawoodjee's triple made it 55-20 in the early going of the final half. The Pirate advantage remained in the 30's throughout most of the second half before Kordell Gordon converted an assist by Brandt Skolnick at the 5:51 mark, then added the charity toss for the 3-point play for a 71-30 margin. Dawoodjee added a triple a minute later and Gordon's dunk at the 2:21 mark put VC ahead 78-32. The Pirates cruised in for the 78-37 win.
Gordon and Dawoodjee each totaled eight points in the game while Jelani Bell came off the bench to score seven. Caleb Geisendorfer grabbed five rebounds to lead the Pirates while Skolnick pulled in four boards. Michael Noulowe dropped three dimes in the victory.
The Pirates return to action on Friday Nov. 5 hosting Victor Valley on the second day of the We Play Hard Tournament. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 pm. The Pirates conclude the opening weekend against Antelope Valley Saturday Nov. 6 at 2:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.