Men's Basketball Drops Conference Opener 78-59 to Ventura

The Allan Hancock College men's basketball team stumbled out of the gates and never recovered during its Western State Conference opener. The Bulldogs fell 78-59 at home to Ventura inside Joe White Memorial Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. Hancock, which had won five of its last six games entering conference play, dropped to 0-1 in league and 10-11 overall. Ventura, the defending conference co-champions, evened its overall record at 10-10.

Marcellus Garrick led a trio of Bulldogs in double digits with 17 points. The sophomore went 7-for-9 from the floor, including a 2-for-2 effort from 3-point range. Sophomore Kevawn Lord came off the bench to finish with 11 points and four rebounds. Sophomore center Dominic Jackson added 10 points and four rebounds. Jackson went 3-for-7 from the field, and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.  Deon Whiteside added eight points and six rebounds off the bench, while Erik Kinnebrew added six points, seven rebounds and four steals. Freshman point guard Nolan Willett had nine assists and two steals.

Overall, Hancock shot 41 percent from the field on a 22-for-53 effort. Hancock went 2-for-13 from 3-point range, and 13-for-17 on free throws.

Ventura scored the first four points of the game, and quickly built a 23-6 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Behind seven 3-point buckets, the Pirates led 44-25 at halftime, and never looked back.  Vida Faniel had 17 of his 29 points in the first half. The sophomore went 11-for-17 from the field on the day, and 3-for-4 from the 3-point range. Faniel added 11 rebounds and three steals to record a double-double.  He was one of four Pirates to score at least 12 points.

The Pirates shot 54 percent in the game, and had 20 points off Hancock's 16 turnovers.

Hancock will return to action at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18, at Moorpark College.