The VC men's basketball team had not taken the court for 10 days before Wednesday due to various Covid cancelations. After a slow start, the Pirates found their groove with a road win at Moorpark 95-77. Anthony McIntyre led five players in double-figures for VC (19-2, 7-0) with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists as 12 Pirates found the scoring column in the game. Adrian McIntyre netted 14 points with six dimes in the contest at Raider Pavilion.
After an opening bucket by Anthony Mc., the Raiders took the lead a possession later and led VC for the next five minutes. A Lay-up by Adrian Mc. gave Ventura an 11-10 lead with 14:36 on the clock, but Moorpark came right back with a score to retake the lead. Tobin's 3-pointer tied the game at 14, and the teams knotted at 16 and 18 before Anthony Garza gave VC the lead for good with a pair of free throws with 11:58 remaining in the first half.
After a two-minute scoring drought for both teams, Adrian Mc. hit back-to-back-lay-ups, each answered by the Raiders. Anthony Mc. then hit a three to begin an 18-0 run for VC, followed by a jumper by Garza. Aaron Dawoodjee scored a deuce and Garza had a dunk to extend the lead to 10, 33-23. Jelani Bell then hit for three and scored on a drive before Kordell Gordon threw down a monster alley-oop off a pass from Anthony Mc. Adrian Mc. then hit a pair of charity tosses to make it 42-23 for Ventura with 3:38 remaining. The McIntyre brothers each scored lay-up down the stretch and Dawoodjee hit from range as Ventura led 49-27 at halftime.
The Pirates continued to expand the advantage early in the second half. Shulton Tobin's three at the 14:17 mark made it a 30-point game, 67-37, and Max Kadlec hit from downtown to expand the margin to 35, 80-45, with 10:27 left. Ventura maintained the advantage until the final two minutes of play when Moorpark finished the game on an 11-0 run to set the final 95-77 margin.
Tobin contributed 13 points to the effort while Garza and Bell each scored 11 points. Garza also grabbed five boards and dropped five dimes.
As a team, the Pirates shot 65 percent from the floor (34-52) and led the Raiders on the glass, 38-29.
Ventura's next outing will come on Monday Feb. 14 at home against LA Pierce College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.