Pirates Fall on Second Day of RCC Tourney
The VC men's basketballteam fell behind early and could never make up ground Thursday, falling to San Bernardino Valley 73-67 on the second day of the Hypland Classic at Riverside City College. Kam'Ron Cigar led VC (8-2) with 19 points while Jerimiyah Smit scored 14 with seven rebounds. Snookey Wigington netted 10 points with three assists and three steals in the setback.
The VC men's basketball team fell behind early and could never make up ground Thursday, falling to San Bernardino Valley 73-67 on the second day of the Hypland Classic at Riverside City College. Kam'Ron Cigar led VC (8-2) with 19 points while Jerimiyah Smith scored 14 with seven rebounds. Snookey Wigington netted 10 points with three assists and three steals in the setback.
After an early 1-1 tie, the Wolverines opened up a 15-6 lead five minutes into the game. Cigar made a 3-pointer to end the Pirates' skid, but SBVC was seemingly able to answer every VC score. Smith hit a triple to pull Ventura to within 2417 at the 8:30 mark, but San Bernardino immediately hit a shot from range to counter. The Pirate deficit ballooned to 14 points, 35-21, when Christian Aukuso's 3-pointer began an 8-0 VC run with Tong Tong following with a dunk and Cigar a three to close the gap to six, 35-29. SBVC again had an answer, however, and led 40-30 at halftime.
Cigar's old-fashioned 3-point play midway through the second half brought Ventura back to within 52-45, and Smith followed up with a lay-up off a steal by Elijah Brown to cut the gap to five. Wigington scored a lay-up with 8:53 on the clock to complete a 7-0 Pirate run and VC trailed by three, 52-49. San Bernardino answered with a 5-0 run and the PIrates would never get closer than five points until the final minute when Wigington's lay-up made it 66-62. The Wolverines hit their free throws down the stretch to finish off the Pirates.
Ventura ends their run in the Riverside Tournament on Saturday Dec. 6 against the host Tigers. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 pm.