It was not the season-opener the Pirates were looking for. The Ventura College men's basketball team dropped its 2022-23 debut to Saddleback College Thursday, 77-64, on the first day of the We Play Hard Tournament at the Athletic Event Center. Marcus Watson scored 21 points to lead VC (0-1) and Adrian McIntyre netted a dozen with a team-best six rebounds. Kai Johnson and Tony Njia each added wight points to the effort for Ventura.
Ventura, ranked No. 13 in Southern California in the CCCMBCA Pre-Season Poll, found things difficult in the early going. The Pirated misfired on their first four shots and turned the ball over three times before Aaron Dawoodjee connected for two with 16:52 on the clock. Midway through the first half, Njia had a steal and lay-up to pull the Pirates to within 15-10, and Anthony Garza's putback reduced the deficit to four, 18-14, with 7:42 remaining in the first half. Saddleback closed the period on a 14-5 run, however, and led 34-19 at halftime.
Saddleback took full control early in the second half, connecting for two 3-pointers in the opening 30 seconds of the period. The bobcats extended their lead to 48-26 at the 14:50 mark before the VC's offense began to get untracked. Unfortunately, Saddleback countered every Pirate run to maintain control of the contest. McIntyre went on a personal 8-0 run to pull Ventura back to within 48-34, and Watson's old-fashioned 3-point play made it 52-39 for the Bobcats with 9:25 on the clock. Watson nailed a trey on the next possession to shrink the deficit to 12, but Saddleback went on an 8-0 run after to answer. Ventura could get no closer down the stretch, falling by the final count of 77-64.
Garza and Dawoodjee each hauled in five rebounds in the game and McIntyre handed out a team-high three assists in the game.
VC is back at it on Friday Nov. 4 in the We Play Hard Tournament, taking on Pasadena at 6:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.