Ventura scored 16 unanswered points in the first half Wednesday night and went on to defeat SBCC 96-84 in a WSC North men’s basketball game at Ventura.
JP Dodson led the Vaqueros (3-14, 0-2) with 16 points and Scott Burrows had 14. Austin Ramljak and Zalmico Harmon had 23 apiece for the Pirates (10-10, 2-1).
Ventura hit 49 percent, including nine triples, while the Vaqueros shot 37 percent. SBCC was effective from the free-throw line, making 24 of 29. The home team won the battle of the boards 51-37, including 20 at the offensive end.
“Our inability to clear the defensive boards was the difference,” said coach Morris Hodges.
Alex DiManno (10 points, 5 assists) hit a 3-pointer to put SBCC ahead 17-16. Ventura responded with a 16-0 run and stretched the lead to 32-17 with nine minutes to go. The Pirates led 48-40 at the half.
Jalani Davis added 10 points for Santa Barbara and Michael Hansen had five rebounds. The Vaqueros shaved a 16-point second-half deficit to six (78-72) on a basket by DiManno with seven minutes to go.
“Then we had a few empty trips,” noted Hodges. “We also gave up some critical offensive rebounds.”
SBCC is 0-2 in conference despite having their two best offensive games (89 and 84 points). They’ve had just six and 10 turnovers in the last two outings.
The Vaqueros travel to Hancock on Saturday for a 7 p.m. game.
