MEN'S BASKETBALL: It was a great run while it lasted, but the Ventura College men's basketball season came to an end Saturday night with a pair of Mt. San Jacinto College runs in the first half of their CCCAA SoCal Regional Quarterfinal contest in Hemet. The No. 3-seeded Eagles put together a 15-2 run midway through the first half and closed the period on a 11-0 streak in the final three minutes to take complete control. Ivan Dooley scored a game-high 28 points in his final game in the orange and black while Jalen Young and Jon McMurry netted 11 and 10 points, respectively for No. 19 VC (17-12) in the loss.
Mt. San Jacinto opened up an early lead, but Ventura pulled back even , 12-12, on a 3-pointer by Young and a pair of free throws by Dooley with 14:31 on the clock. Over the next three-plus minutes, MSJC produced their first run, and they held a 27-14 advantage at the 10:56 mark. McMurry made a triple with 7:41 on the clock, but the Pirates would get just one more field goal for the remainder of the half. Young hit a jumper with 3:27 left to make the score 34-22, but the Pirates went into halftime trailing 45-22.
Ventura kept up the fight in the second half, but Mt. San Jacinto proved to be too much on this night. Dooley hit for 23 of his 28 points in the final 20 minutes, but VC could get no closer than the 19 points. For the second straight season, the Eagles ended the Pirates' season, this time by a 78-56 score.
The Pirates end with a final record of 17-12. They fought back from a 7-8 non-conference mark to come within one game of repeating as Western State Conference champions, finishing the year in second place. VC ended the reign of defending state champion Mt. San Antonio College in the first round of the playoffs before bowing out in the second round.