Less than a month after hanging 106 points on Cuesta in San Luis Obispo, the Pirates men's basketball team could not find their shooting touch at home, dropping a 67-54 decision to the Cougars Wednesday at the Athletic Event Center. Kai Johnson led VC with 13 points and Reese Widerburg netted 10 in the setback. Landreau Tate and Caleb Gilbert each pulled in seven rebounds for VC (12-12, 5-3).
Ventura took an 8-4 lead early on a steal and lay-up by Gilbert and a lay-up by Carter Alexander off a Dominik Contreras assist. The advantage was short-lived, however, as Cuesta scored the next seven points to hold an 11-8 margin with 14:14 left in the first half. The game was even for the next six minutes as Tate's easy bucket at the 8:00 mark pulled Ventura to within 18-15.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cuesta opened the game up before Contreras' scored a 3-point play to make it 24-18 with 6:30 on the clock. The Cougars took full control at that point, reeling off 10 straight points to hold a 34-18 halftime edge.
Things did not improve for Ventura in the second half, unfortunately, as Cuesta outscored the Pirates 12-4 in the first five minutes of play. VC trailed 46-22 before Johnson made a pair of free throws to stop the skid with 15:03 remaining in the game. The margin remained in the 20-point range until Contreras hit a three and Widerburg followed with a jumper as Ventura cut the deficit to 55-40 at the 6:47 mark.
Vernon Henry sandwiched a pair of free throws and a bucket around a Cougar score, and Johnson followed with two more charity shots to pull Ventura to within 57-46 with 4:33 on the clock. The Cougars had an answer, however, and a free throw and a triple extended their lead back to 15 points. Widerburg closed the gap to 10, 64-54, with a lay-up at the 2:10 mark but the Pirates would get no closer in the 67-54 defeat.
Contreras ended the game with eight points for Ventura while Gilbert and Henry each scored six.
The Pirates won't have much time to dwell on the result as they next host Moorpark on Saturday Feb. 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.