Pirates Shoot Past Mt. San Jacinto 80-62

The VC men's basketball team made six 3-pointers on a decisive 18-2 run in the first half as they raced past visiting Mt. San Jacinto College 80-62 Saturday afternoon at the Athletic Event Center. Donavan Williams led Ventura (4-4) with 19 points, including four made three's, and Dayveon Bates netted 15 points with six rebounds in the Pirate victory. VC was 14-32 from behind the 3-point arc (45%) while shooting 52 percent overall from the floor (27-52). Shulton Tobin had 13 points, all coming in the final 4:34 of the first half.

The Pirates began the game scoring in three's as Darius Butler hit from range, and Donavan Williams nailed two more treys for a 9-2 VC advantage. Bates hit from range to make it 12-7 before Mt. San Jacinto scored the next six points for a 13-12 lead with 13:44 left in the first half. Timothy Turner hit for an old-fashioned 3-point play and Davion Washington's dunk gave Ventura a 17-15 advantage with 11:54 on the clock.

The Eagles went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes, taking a 27-19 lead at the 7:40 mark, setting up the Pirates game-turning run. Turner got things started with a 3-pointer off  a Donavan Williams assist and Donavan followed with his own shot from beyond the arc. Turner dropped a dime to Bates for three as VC took the lead for good, 28-27 with 5:32 remaining.

Then Tobin got into the act, closing the half on a personal 13-6 run. He hit a triple off Turner's dime with 4:34 on the clock before hitting two more three's on successive possessions for a 37-29 VC advantage. He then netted two lay-ups in the final minute, both from assists by Turner, as the Pirates took a 41-34 lead into halftime.

The teams traded scores early in the second half, but the Pirates never allowed the Eagles to get closer than five points. Donavan Williams and Bates made inside buckets to extend the advantage to 49-40 with 16:03 remaining as Ventura began to pull away. Bates had a dunk off Donavan's assist for a double-digit lead, 51-41, and Dayshone Henry's old-fashioned 3-point play extended the margin to 59-46 at the 12:09 mark. Donavan and Jonathan Montesinos hit back-to-back three's to break the game open, 68-48, with 8:16 remaining. Mt. San Jacinto never made a serious run the rest of the way as VC cruised to the 80-62 win.

The Pirates will return to action on Friday Dec. 6 against MiraCosta College in the Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament at Antelope Valley College. Tip-off is slated for 5:00 pm in Lancaster.