The Ventura College Pirates men's basketball team outdueled the Porterville Pirates Wednesday at the Athletic Event Center, posting a 79-74 VC victory. Adrian McIntyre netted 22 points with four assists and Anthony Garza scored 13 points, all in the second half, to lead Ventura (4-3). Tony Njia recorded 13 points with three steals off the bench while Kai Johnson netted seven with a team-high five rebounds as VC overcame a 13-point second half deficit in the triumph.
Both teams shot well from the floor with Ventura hitting 59 percent of their shots (26-44) while Porterville shot 55 percent (28-51). The coastal Pirates held a significant advantage at the free throw line, however, sinking 21 of 27 attempts (78%) while the Central Valley based Pirates were 7-11 (64%) at the charity stripe. The VC bench also played a large role in the win, outscoring the Porterville reserves 29-15.
There were five lead changes in the first seven minutes of play and VC took a 15-13 advantage when Caleb Geisendorfer hit a 3-pointer from the corner at the 12:56 mark of the first half. Scores by Marcus Watson and Njia pushed the lead to six, 20-14, and Njia hit a pair of free throws to extend the margin to 1-, 26-16, with 8:46 on the clock. Porterville went on a 10-1 run at that point, pulling to a 27-26 deficit three minutes later before Michael Noulowe sank two free shots to end the skid. McIntyre's two charity shots made it 31-28 at the 4:55 mark before Porterville scored the next eight points. Kordell Gordon cashed in Njia's assist with 2:18 remaining, and McIntyre scored a lay-up i the final minute as Porterville held a 41-37 halftime lead.
Ventura began the second half with three straight turnovers on offense and Porterville took full advantage. The Central Valley Pirates outscored their coastal counterparts 12-3 over the first four minutes of the period with VC's only score coming from an Aaron Dawoodjee 3-pointer. Trailing 53-40, Ventura then turned to Garza to bring them back. The 6-foot-8 sophomore scored the next six points on three inside buckets, all assisted by McIntyre, then Garza returned the favor to help a McIntyre field goal. Geisendorfer hit a jumper to complete a 10-0 VC run and the Coastal Pirates were back in the game with 12:58 remaining.
With Ventura still Trailing 61-54, Johnson, who also recorded all of his scores in the second half, scored on a lay-up, followed by two free shots from Garza and another free throw by Njia. Johnson then hit twice from the line to tie the score at 61 with 8:34 remaining, and Garza scored a minute later to give the Pirates the lead for good. Johnson hit a big three to break a 63-63 tie, and Njia scored two free throws to maintain the 68-65 advantage with 6:02 on the clock. Njia's 3-pointer stretched the lead to six, 71-65, before McIntyre and Njia hit key lay-ups down the stretch. Ventura outlasted Porterville for the 79-72 victory.
Watson ended the game with six points and a pair of steals and Noulowe also netted six in the Pirate win.
Ventura next hosts Los Angeles Southwest College on Monday Nov. 28. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.