Ventura built a 40-27 halftime lead on Wednesday night on the way to a 74-58 men’s basketball victory over the visiting SBCC Vaqueros.
Jamal Lewis scored 17 for the Pirates (8-12, 1-3), who picked up their first WSC North victory. Tommy Walker shot 6-10 from the field and led the Vaqueros (4-12, 0-4) with 12 points. Wallace Baker-Mason and Jonathan Montez added eight apiece.
Ventura jumped ahead 16-6 after 7½ minutes. The Pirates shot 46 percent in the opening half and made all eight of their free throws. They hit 15-19 from the foul line for the game compared to 7-13 for the Vaqueros.
SBCC committed 17 turnovers leading to 16 points.
The teams shot about the same from the field (SBCC made 43.6 percent; VC 42 percent) but the Pirates converted 7-23 from 3-point land while holding Santa Barbara to 3-16 shooting from long range. Ventura won the rebound battle, 45-29.
The Vaqueros travel to Santa Maria to take on Hancock (3-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
