The Pirates men's basketball team finished with an 82-78 victory in a seesaw affair with visiting LA Southwest Monday. Anthony Garza and Adrian McIntyre each scored 19 points and Marcus Watson netted 18 as Ventura (5-3) won their second straight game, their third win in the past four outings. Kai Johnson and Tony Njia recorded nine points each off the bench.
VC handed out a season-high 18 assists with a season-low four turnovers in the game.
The game went back and forth with each team holding an advantage for extended periods of time. Ventura was first, taking the lead on their first possession when Watson turned a steal into an assist for a Garza lay-up. Michael Noulowe followed that up with a dunk, cashing in a Garza steal and an Aaron Dawoodjee dime. The Pirates maintained a small margin until the Cougars went ahead 16-15 with a 3-pointer at the 13:00 mark of the first half.
LA Southwest built on their lead, extending it to double figures at one point, 31-21, with 8:49 remaining in the period. The Pirates stopped the Cougar run with a 10-4 run, including a Watson score from Johnson's pass, two free throws by Johnson, and a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays by Watson. Garza scored to close the deficit to 35-33 with 5:38 on the clock, but VC could not overtake LASW before halftime. Ventura trailed 43-39 at the break.
McIntyre started the second stanza with an inside-out 3-pointer from Garza, and returned the favor assisting a dunk by Garza. The Pirates went back ahead 46-45 on another score by Garza inside, two minutes into the half. The lead changed hands a number of times over the next nine minutes before Garza converted a Watson assist for two and a 60-58 Ventura margin. Njia followed that up with a 3-pointer and lay-up off of Johnson's theft and VC led 65-60 at the 7:40 mark. Johnson's lay-up with 4:42 remaining extended the advantage to 10, 75-65, and Ventura rode the wave to the final 82-78 victory.
Watson handed out a team-high five assists with three steals and McIntyre and Garza grabbed seven and six rebounds, respectively. Johnson also dropped four dimes in the effort and Garza had three helpers and two blocked shots.
Ventura will next head to the High Desert, playing Compton on Friday Dec. 2 at 3:00 pm in the Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament at Antelope Valley College. Play in Lancaster will continue on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3 and 4.