PRESEASON PREVIEW:
8/22/08.... We are excited to start off the 2008-09 school year. Even though official practice doesn't tip off until October 15th we can get a look of what the Pirates have for the upcoming year by looking at their Intercollegiate Basketball class roster. The Pirates will be led by Women's Head Coach Ned Mircetic, who will be pulling double duty this year, returning Assistant Coach Jon Wyers, and newcomer Assistant Coach Will Cowen (formerly Girl's Varsity Head Coach at Pacifica High School). Coach Mircetic's return to the men's game, after 18 successful years with the women and counting, also brings back the historical WE PLAY HARD motto which is painted on the Athletic Event Center's walls. The Pirates will look to build on their consecutive streak of seven straight WSC Conference Titles this year by: returning WSC Honorable Mention Team Members Eric Gray and Prince Abidoye. The Pirates will also be returning sophomores: Danny Benson (who was granted a medical redshirt after only playing in six games in the 2007-08 season), Will Faiivae, Pepe Araujo, Dee Pinkard, and Alex Jamerson. They are adding two four year transfers Mike Diacos (who redshirted at Division 1 Nebraska) and Anthony Burtley (who redshirted at NAIA Lewis and Clark State). Incoming freshman include: Randy Hunter (Back to Back Central Coast Player of the Year), Bobby Hillard, Jordan Harris, and Justin Jimenez (Ventura County All Star Game Participants), and locals Josh Marcus, Daniel Andrews, and Jeremiah Slowik.
9/19/08.... Today was the start of the new Mentor Program. The student athletes and mentors met each other for the first time to get to know each other. Hopefully this will be a start of a life long friendship for each and every student athlete and mentor.
We would also like to welcome to the team and wish a speedy recovery to redshirt Will Jones (who fractured, dislocated, and tore ligaments in his ankle and will be out of action until December-February), Greyshirts Nolan Smith and Michael Bellivue who will be bringing valuable reps in practice to better prepare our team as the season moves on, and Team Manager Aaron Suel who helps out daily at practice and will be valuable to the coaching staff at all games. Daniel Andrews is redshirting this year due to suffering a broken arm.
10/05/08... Your 2008-09 Pirate Men's Basketball roster was released today. You can find it by clicking on the roster tab above. Also there have been some time changes on the schedule. The L.A. Valley road game has been changed from 7:00pm to 5:00pm and the Citrus road game has been changed from 5:30pm to 5:00pm.
10/06/08... Player/coaches biography pages have been added to the roster. You can click on the players/coaches name to go to their biography page. Also Josh Marcus has decided to quit the team to focus on academics and training to play football for VC next year. We would like to wish him the best of luck.
10/09/08... In the photo gallery we have some pictures of our players and mentors together.
10/17/08... Team photo posted on home page and individual photos are in each players biography pages. Official practice kicked off this week and we are only 11 days away from the Westmont scrimmage and three weeks away from the We Play Hard Tip Off.
1029/08... Here is a link to two blog articles wriiten by Joe Curley of the Ventura County Star after talking with Coach Mircetic about the Westmont scrimmage. We thank everyone that attended and look forward to seeing you again on tip off weekend, which is only 10 days way!
Coach Mircetic's take on some of the players.
Coach Mircetic's overall take on the scrimmage.
11/8/08... The Pirates kicked off the year with a 80-73 win over Mt. San Antonio in the We Play Hard Tip Off. They will face off in the semifinals tonight against #18 ranked Bakersfield. To read more about the game follow this link.
In other news Bobby Hillard has decided to redshirt this season to concentrate on academics and to work on his perimeter skills including his ballhandling, pullup jumper off the dribble, and extending his range on his jump shot.
11/9/08... Ventura played a good game, but fell short to #18 Bakersfield in the We Play Hard Tip Off Semi-Finals. They will face off in the third place game with #14 ranked Saddleback. To read more about the Bakersfield game follow this link.
11/10/08... Ventura placed 4th in the We Play Hard Tip Off losing in the 3rd place game to #14 ranked Saddleback 73-67. The tournament left the coaching staff encouraged with the teams play early on in the season even though they went 1-2. For a young team to place 4th in a tournament with three ranked teams, and both of their loses coming to ranked opponents, the Pirate players should be proud of their effort. They will be leaving Thursday to play in the Irvine Valley College Classic over the weekend with an opening round game at 8:00pm on Thursday November 13th against Long Beach City College. To read more about the Saddleback game follow this link.
11/17/08... The Pirates went to the Irvine Valley College Tournament, minus Coach Mircetic who was with his women in Glendale, and under the lead of Co-Head Coaches Jon Wyers and Will Cowen went 2-1 winning the Consolation Championship. To find out more about the games you can find the boxscores under the schedule link. Danny Benson was named to the All Tournament Team and was also named Player of the Week in the Western State Conference.
11/21/08... Pepe Araujo was injured in practice this week dislocating, fracturing, and chipping a bone in his pinkie finger on his shooting hand. The injury was thought to be more severe when it first occurred, but after seeing a specialist there was no ligament damage found. Pepe is targeting a return in 3 weeks at the San Jose City College Tournament. If his recovery takes longer than this expected date he is still considering the option of shutting it down for the season and getting a medical redshirt. We hope he has a speedy recovery and is back in a Pirate uniform this year.
Here is a link to a preview article written today by Joe Curley of the Ventura County Star. VC pressing on as issues from last season linger.
11/24/08... Randy Hunter will miss tommorrow's game with Canyons due to being admitted to the emergency room this weekend with a throat infection. He should be back Friday at the Oxnard Tournament.
11/26/08... The Pirates came back with a second half victory over College of the Canyons. Prince Abidoye scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half to lead the way.
After the game Coach Mircetic told HomefieldSports.com "Probably the best adjustment was I think the kids needed to come out (in the second half) with a little more sense of purpose. The scoring has been shared much of the year. For those two guys (Prince Abidoye and Danny Benson) to step up and score a little bit more was much appreciated."
Prince Abidoye told HomefieldSports.com "Coach just told us to be aggressive. He said we weren't playing hard enough."
12/1/08... The Pirates won the Condor Classic Championship at Oxnard College for the fourth year in a row including wins over Compton, conference rival Santa Barbara in a 20 point blowout, and an upset over #5 ranked San Bernadino Valley. Will Faiivae was name MVP of the tournament and Danny Benson got All Tournament honors. Here are some links to media coverage of the tournament. Ventura College men's basketball team holds off San Bernardino for Oxnard title, VC reaches final of Condor Classic, VC beats No. 1 and No. 4 in the same day, Pinkard turns a corner, VC men's hoops improves to 5-3.
The Pirates creep into the rankings for the first time this season securing the #15 spot in the Southern California Coach's Poll. Will Faiivae was named WSC Player of the Week.
12/4/08... Ventura went in and beat the #10 ranked team in the South L.A. Valley pretty easily. Thanks to Homefieldsports.com for doing a great job broadcasting the game for our many fans. We look forward to being broadcasted for the majority of our league games this year. Here is a link to the game highlights and a post game interview with Will Faiivae. VC makes it seven in a row.
Here is a link to a slideshow of pictures from the Canyons game. Thanks to David Breslin and Cynthia Chavez for putting this together.
12/7/08... The Pirates traveled down to Imperial Valley for a single game and got a victory. They leave on Wednesday for the San Jose City College Tournament to try and continue to extend their 8 game winning streak against Northern California teams. Here is an article from the Imperial Valley Press
Arabs suffer tough loss
By JAMES ARENS, Sports Writer
Saturday, December 6, 2008 10:46 PM PST
While there were flashes of brilliance, there were also flashes of frustration.
Too much of the latter led the Imperial Valley College men’s basketball team to another loss at the hands of Ventura College, falling 72-56 at IVC on Saturday.
The contest started off sloppy and didn’t have any signs of stopping. The Arabs also had what could be categorized as a Sahara Desert-sized drought in the first 10 minutes of play. But even with all the messy play the Arabs weren’t to be forgotten.
“You can’t score the ball when you turn it over and we did a lot of that early on,” said Arabs head coach Tyson Aye. “But the guys never stopped playing hard and that’s why I know we’ll have success this season.”
The Arabs scored first 50 seconds in on a David Jefferson up-and-under layup but didn’t have another field goal until the 10:24 mark of the first half. The Arabs only managed three free throws during that nine-minute span.
Jefferson, who fouled out late in the second half, finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
The Pirates weren’t playing all that well in the first half either.
While six Ventura players scored in those first 10 minutes, they had more turnovers than they did field goals, much like the Arabs.
That left the door open for IVC and it eventually snuck its way back into the game.
“I knew our guys wouldn’t quit even when we were down something like 26-11, I knew we could come back,” Aye said of the 13-1 spurt the Arabs went on to close out the first 20 minutes. “We just started taking care of the ball and started playing a little smarter.”
Sophomore Milton Watts Jr. spearheaded the 13-1 run in the last 5:15 with four of his nine total blocks, three points and took a momentum swinging charge. Watts also finished with a game-high 18 points, 12 coming in the second half.
IVC’s Jefferson scored the final bucket with 39 seconds to go to put the Arabs within three, 27-24, heading into halftime.
But out of the intermission, the Pirates started sinking the Arabs’ ship.
“I think that the guys came out with more intensity,” said Ventura assistant coach Jon Wyers. “We drove five hours and let the lead slip away so we just wanted to close out the win.”
Pirate Will Faivae, who finished with 12 points, scored on a rebound and put back to start a Ventura 8-2 run.
Watts Jr. then had a mini run of his own on a dunk, free throw and two hook shots, scoring seven of IVC’s next nine points to tie the game at 35.
The Pirates then started locking down on defense, something Wyers was elated about.
“We let them come back the last time we played them and it came down to a two-point win for us,” he said. “I think in the second half we put together enough defensive spurts to seal the game.”
The Pirates’ offensive spurts helped too.
After the Arabs’ run, Ventura went on a 12-2 run to go up 47-37 and IVC never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
“We need to learn to slow down and be a little more patient,” Aye said in summary. “Our lack of experience showed and I think the more we learn how to play tougher and smarter the better we’ll be — we’ll come around.”
12/15/08... The Pirates return from San Jose as the San Jose City College Tournament Champions improving to 12-3 riding an 11 game win streak. In the process the #15 State ranked Pirates beat the #11 State ranked Diablo Valley, Alameda, and #14 State ranked Los Medanos. Here are articles and blogs from the Ventura County Star following the Pirates weekend. Congratulations to Dee Pinkard who was MVP and also named WSC Player of the Week and was State Player of the Week Runner Up and Prince Abidoye who made the All Tournament Team. VC men head to Bay area on a winning streak, Live #15 VC men vs #11Diablo Valley, VC men win ninth straight over #11 DVC, Wyers and the whiteboard, Ventura College men's basketball defeats Diablo Valley, Live Tonight's basketball scores, Today's basketball scores, Ventura College men extend winning streak 11, County teams thriving.
12/21/08... Ventura outlasted Fulerton College, to make it 12 wins in a row, and now has a six day break for the holiday before the resume practice and games. Everyone on the Pirates Men's Basketball team would like to wish all the fans a safe and happy holiday season. Here is an in game rundown of the Fullerton game by injured player Pepe Araujo, which was featured on Joe Curley's blog on the Ventura County Star Website.
Live updates
Non-conference
No. 10 Ventura men 92, Fullerton 83 FINAL
Updates from cub reporter Pepe Araujo:
- VC extends the program's longest win streak in four years to 12 with a 92-83 win at a very tough Fullerton team. Ventura (13-3) can tie the 2002-03 team for the best start since the Mathews' era with a win next week against Chaffey in the Canyons tournament.
- "Randy's best game of the year!"
- Hunter's layup and the foul puts VC up 92-81 with 24 seconds to play.
- A 19-9 Fullerton run pulls the Hornets within 88-82 with 58 seconds to play. VC had led 79-61 with seven minutes remaining.
- Jordan Harris fouled out with five minutes to play.
-Dee Pinkard's corner 3-pointer gives VC a 79-61 lead with seven minutes to play.
- Alex Jamerson sets up Jordan Harris for a two-hand dunk to give VC momentum and a 72-58 lead with 10 minutes left.
- Jeremiah Slowik splashes a 3-pointer
- Benson and Faiivae with 3 fouls apiece with 15 mintues left.
- Faiivae flushes a pick and roll from Benson to start the second half.
- The second half has tipped off.
- Prince Abidoye had a team-high 14 points at the half. Hunter had 10 points.
- Abidoye is "getting to the free throw line religiously," his two FTs gives VC a 43-36 lead.
- "The gym is freezing!"
- "Danny Benson playing hard offensively and defensively, 31-26 VC with six minutes left.
- Hunter's second successful and one gives VC a 21-19 lead midway through the first half.
- Hunter scores inside and gets the foul. The free throw puts VC ahead 16-15.
- Randy Hunter and Prince Abidoye hit back to back layups, Abidoye and 1, to pull VC within 14-11.
- Eric Gray hits a 3 to start the game, Fullerton follows with a 12-3 run.
12/31/08... After a short holiday break the Pirates came back to win the Consolation Championship of the Cougar Holiday Classic at College of the Canyons. In round one they lost to #6 State Chaffey, round two the beat LA Harbor, and round 3 they beat Big Bend from Washington. Congratulations to Eric Gray for being named to the All Tournament Team. Here are links to live in game updates provided by Pepe Araujo and Joe Curley. Here are the links to those: Chaffey, LA Harbor, and Big Bend. The Pirates finish off their non-conference schedule this Saturday at defending State Champions and current #1 ranked team in the state Citrus at 5:00pm.
1/4/09... The Pirates went in to #1 and reigning State Champions Citrus and gave them all they could handle losing 56-53. Here was the coverage by the Ventura County Star and Joe Curley. Ventura takes #1 Citrus to the limit. The Pirates open up league on Wednesday and finally return to have a home game, which they haven't had in over a month.
1/8/09... The Pirates lost their home league opener to Cuesta 67-64. Here are some articles leading up to the and after the game from the Ventura County Star. Mircetic on Cuesta Men's Showdown, Double Header has new meaning for VC coach, Parallel philosophy essential part of Mircetic's double duty, VC Men drop WSC opener to Cuesta. Will Faiivae was named South State Player of the Week Runner Up.
1/13/09... The Pirates got back to .500 in league beating LA Pierce 85-75. The Pirates are currently tied for second place in the WSC.
No. 14 Ventura 85, Los Angeles Pierce 75 FINAL
-- Updates from cub journalist Pepe Araujo:
-- Benson had 19 points and Faiivae has 18 points and double-digit rebounds.
-- After a flagrent foul, Benson makes all four free throws to push VC up 79-69 in the final minute.
-- Up 71-63, VC looks like it'll survive. Benson and Faiivae have 16 and 14 points, respectively.
-- Back-to-back 3-pointer from Eric Gray pushes Ventura to its biggest lead, 63-56, with seven minutes to play.
-- A pair of Faiivae dunks from Pinkard passes keeps VC ahead 57-56 with eight minutes to play.
-- Faiivae's steal to Pinkard ties the score, 47-47, with 15 minutes to play.
-- VC uses a 9-0 run to tie the score, 43-43, with 16 minutes to play.
-- Benson hits Eric Gray for a 3-pointer that pulls VC within 43-41 with 17 minutes to play.
-- VC is led by eight points from Danny Benson and seven points each from Dee Pinkard and Jordan Harris. "They're hitting all their 3s."
-- Ventura pulls even, 19-19, with back-to-back dunks by Will Faiivae, but Pierce responds with a 6-0 run.
-- After Pierce scores the first six points of the game, the second team comes off the bench and responds. Alex Jamerson steal sets up Jordan Harris' dunk. Harris' 3-point pulls VC within 8-7.
Congratulations to Danny Benson for being Southern California State Player of the Week Honorable Mention. Also be sure to come to our BBQ Fundraiser game on Saturday. Adult tickets are $12.00 and Child tickets are $8.00. The price includes admission to the game and a dinner.
1/19/09... The Pirates broke out of their recent slump in a big way beating rival Moorpark by the largest margin (26pts) in 11 years. Here are articles from the Ventura County Star that covered the game: VC goes out of its way in route, Mircetic/Cowen on guarding the MC Men, Tonight's basketball games, Historic loss for Moorpark men.
Congratulations to Randy Hunter for being named WSC Player of the Week and Southern California State Player of the Week Honorable Mention.
1/22/09... The Pirates have moved up to tied for first place after they beat Santa Barbara and Hancock upset Cuesta. Here are articles leading up to the game and after provided by the Ventura County Star and Joe Curley. Wyers on defending Lane and Keeten, VC builds big lead, then holds to beat Santa Barbara, WSC Players of the Week Face Off, Live-- Tonight's basketball games, Chess match in Santa Barbara.
Relisten to the game against Santa Barbara or to Will Faiivae's post game interview. Also the 2008-09 Media Guide will start going on sale at the Oxnard game on Saturday.
1/26/09... Ventura used tough defense at the end of both halves to secure a 77-62 victory over Oxnard. A new slide show of pictures has been added to the photo gallery of this game. Here is the media coverage from the Ventura County Star: Benson carries Ventura to win over Oxnard, Cunningham on OC men's win, Ventura trip, Tonight's basketball games.
1/29/08... Congratulations to Danny Benson for being named Southern California State Player of the Week last week. The Pirates came out flat and never got it going getting upset by Hancock 64-59. Here is the Ventura County Star coverage from Joe Curley's blog: VC's Burtley, Hunter hope for a happy homecoming tonight , Live-- Tonight's basketball games , Mircetic unhappy with Hancock loss , "Changes" in store for VC men , Mircetic on Cuesta Trip , WSC North Men's Basketball Summary , Gorton on beating VC men , Stat of the Night .
2/2/09... The Pirates are tied for first in the WSC with Cuesta the team they beat on Saturday. They had to battle back after a big first half defecit to win the game 70-66. Here is the Ventura County Star's coverage of the game from Joe Curley: Captain steers VC into contention, Live- Tonight's Games, Mircetic on Cuesta Comeback, Benson on Cuesta Win, Blair on loss to Ventura, Schumacher on Ventura loss, Abidoye on win over Cuesta, VC beats Cuesta to draw even in WSC North, Cuesta done in at foul line (from San Luis Tribune).
Listen to the game and post game interviews.Click Here.
2/3/09... Congratulations to Coach Will Cowen for being named the new full time Athletic Director of Ventura College effective after basketball season ends. Cowen to be named VC Athletic Director, Cowen's AD hire leaves basketball hire wide open, Cowen takes AD job at VC.
2/5/09...VC held on in an ugly game to beat LA Pierce 69-57. Here is the Ventura County Star's coverage of the game. Live--Tonight's basketball Games, Mircetic on VC men's win over Pierce.
2/6/09... VC lost 78-76 to cross town rival Moorpark dropping themselves into a tie for 1st place with Cuesta again with three games to go. The WSC race is the tightest in years with Oxnard and Moorpark sitting a game back of first. Here is the local coverage: Moorpark bounces back, Community college basketball: Moorpark makes 2007a banner year, Live--Tonight's basketball games.
2/16/09...The Pirates played one of their best games in weeks beating Santa Barbara 84-64 keeping pace with Cuesta who they are still tied for 1st with. Here are the articles for the game from the Ventura County Star: VC men speed up the pace to beat Santa Barbara City, Live-- Tonight's Basketball Games,
2/19/09... The Pirates are one win away from their 8th consecutive WSC Conference Championship after beating Oxnard 76-47. Here are the articles for the game from the Ventura County Star: Ventura men rout Oxnard to keep WSC title hopes alive, Live- Tonight's basketball scores, Wyers on VC men's win, Hunter on VC men's win, Cunningham on loss to VC, Mircetic on VC men's win over Oxnard.
2/22/09... The Pirates are Co-Champions of the WSC securing their 8th staight title. They beat Hancock 68-56. Here are the articles for the game from the Ventura County Star: Ventura men know eight would be enough, Ventura College men's basketball team clinches share of WSC championship, Live-- Tonight's basketball games, Inside Power.
Congratulations to Danny Benson and Will Faiivae for making 1st Team All Conference and to Dee Pinkard, Eric Gray, and Randy Hunter for making All Conference Honorable Mention. This is Eric Gray's second year being named All Conference Honorable Mention.
2/24/09... Congratulations to Randy Hunter for being named WSC Player of the Week.
3/2/09... The season ended for the Pirates in the first round of the playoffs following a loss to Riverside 83-66. Here are stories leading up to the game and after the game about how the Pirates are moving forward. Congratulations on a great year going 24-9. Ventura feels like it's in good hands with Pinkard, It's the Cowen and Wyers show, Benson pronounces the Pirates ready, Live-- Tonight's regional semifinals, Playing as a team, VC has season come to an end, Ventura begins search for next men's basketball coach.
3/24/09... Riverside was the eventual state champions this year...... Congratulations to Danny Benson for being named All State Honorable Mention..... Help us celebrate the season and say good bye to our 2009 sophomores at our banquet on April 30th. For more information click here.
4/29/09... Some of the Pirates futures for next year have already been decided. Sophomore Will Faiivae has committed to play basketball at Cal State Fullerton (Division 1) next season and sophomore Alex Jamerson has decided to attend San Diego State University where he will major in Kinesiology. Alex has a meeting setup in August, through Coach Wyers, with the San Diego State Coaches to try and walk on their team, become a scout player, or maybe start his coaching career as a student manager we will keep you updated on how it turns out. As more Pirate players make their decisions for the 2009-10 school year we will keep you informed.
Assistant Coaches Will Cowen and Jon Wyers both have been named to new positions. Coach Cowen is the new Athletic Director at Ventura College. (link) Coach Wyers, who plans on still being involved with the Pirates in some capacity, has been named Boy's Varsity Head Coach at Villanova Prep in Ojai, former Pirate Andre Jamerson (older brother to Alex) will be joining Coach Wyers coaching staff at Villanova Prep. (link)
5/7/09... Pirate team manager of the past two years Chad Geske as decided to attend Cal State Northridge in the Fall for academics. Pepe Araujo, who played for the Pirates in 2007-08 and was granted a medical redshirt after only appearing in 6 games in 2008-09, has committed to play basketball for three years at Kansas Wesleyan (NAIA Division 2).
5/11/09... Danny Benson is signing a National Letter of Intent this week with Cal State Dominguez Hills (Division 2) where he will continue his playing career.
5/13/09... Danny Benson was recently named Ventura College Male Athlete of the Year. He will be honored and recieve his award at the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame banquet on June 7th.
5/26/09... Eric Gray has decided to attend Cal State Northridge as a student next year. He also will join Coach Wyers staff at Villanova Prep serving as the Head JV Coach and Varsity Assistant. Eric has a standing scholarship offer on the table from McMurray State (Div 3) in Texas if he decides over the summer to take it and continue on his basketball career.
6/16/09... Congratulations to Will Cowen who was named the new Head Coach. He will also serve as the Athletic Director. Calote statement on VC basketball job, Budget crisis causes VC to adjust plan.
6/18/09... Dee Pinkard has decided to attend Cal State Northridge (Division 1) next year and to try and walk on their basketball team. If a basketball scholarship opportunity comes his way throughout the summer he will look to pursue that. He had a scholarship offer from Cal State Stanislaus, but the week he was suppossed to sign it the head coach got fired. The new head coach has yet to decide if he will extend the same offer.
6/19/09... Prince Abidoye has committed to play basketball at Cal State Stanislaus (Division 2) where he will be a preferred walk on.
7/16/09... Assistant Coach Jon Wyers has left Ventura College after Assistant Athletic Director duties were added to his job description at Villanova Prep, where he was named Varsity Boy's Basketball Coach at the end of April. (link) He would like to thank all the fans that have supported the Pirates in his two years with the program.
Sophomore Will Faiivae has decommitted to Division 1 Cal State Fullerton and is currently deciding between two Division 2 schools. As soon as he makes his choice we will let you know where he will continue his basketball career at.
8/25/09... Will Faiivae has accepted a scholarship to Texas A&M International (Division 2).
WE PLAY HARD!!!
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