The Pirates' men's basketball team showed no ill effects from their opening day loss as they rebounded to defeat Pasadena 83-62 on the second day of the We Play Hard Tournament at the Athletic Event Center. Adrian McIntyre had a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way and Marcus Watson netted 20 with six boards. Kai Johnson and Tony Njia also scored in double-figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Ventura took the early lead and got off to a fast start against the Lancers. Watson hit a jumper on the second possession of the game, then assisted a lay-up by McIntyre. After a PCC bucket, McIntyre returned the favor, dropping a dime to Watson and Anthony Garza connected on a putback. Michael Noulowe hit for three, Watson answered a Pasadena free throw with a deuce, and Johnson hit a "J" for a 15-3 Pirate lead with 13:49 remaining in the first half.
Pasadena began to show some signs of life soon thereafter, however, and they came back to hold a 22-21 margin with 5:38 on the clock. Johnson connected with an offensive rebound and putback, followed by a three on the next trip down the floor to right the ship, and Aaron Dawoodjee's 3-pointer made it 29-25 with 3:48 remaining. Noulowe assisted a monster dunk by McIntyre, who was fouled on the play. He converted the charity shot for a 3-point play to begin a 9-5 run to close the half. VC held a 39-32 advantage at intermission.
The Lancers scored the first two field goals of the second half and were within 41-38 when Jeroe Bidlow came off the bench to provide a spark. He scored on a strong drive to the bucket at the 18:15 mark, then hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to give VC a 50-42 advantage two minutes later. McIntyre followed with back-to-back three's to push the score to 58-44 at the 12:51 mark.
Pasadena pulled back to within 60-55 midway through the period before Johnson sandwiched a pair of buckets around two free shots by Njia, who followed with a drive for two with 5:29 left in the game. Watson scored consecutive lay-ups and Njia scored another deuce to close a 14-0 Pirate run with 3:50 left to play. Watson hit a triple, and Njia was 4-4 at the foul line down the stretch to seal the 21-point victory.
Ventura shot 48 percent from the floor, 31-64, while connecting on 35 percent of their 3-point attempts, 8-23. They were also 81 percent at the free throw line, 13-16. The Pirates outrebounded the Lancers 47-40 and also handed out 14 assists as a team.
VC closes out the We Play Hard Tournament on Saturday Nov. 5 against Antelope Valley at 2:00 pm.