The Ventura College Pirates knocked off the fourth-ranked San Bernardino Valley 99-92 to take home the Condor Class championship on Sunday.
The Pirates were without the guidance of head coach Ned Mircetic, who was a town away coaching the women Pirates who beat Mt. San Antonio College to capture the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions crown.
Pirate assistant coaches Will Cowen and Jon Wyers helped guide the men Pirates to victory.
“We’re obviously very proud of these boys,” said Cowen. “Our team was top notch in the last five minutes.”
After going into halftime with a 43-37 lead, the Pirates never lost the lead in the second half.
The Wolverines made the game close, coming within three points of the Pirates with a 5-0 run after the Pirates took a commanding 95-87 lead within the three minute mark.
On a controversial play, Wolverines player and Most Valuable Player of the tournament Warren Fusselier complained about a foul called in the closing minutes of the game.
Fusselier had tied up Pirates point guard Danny Benson, but Benson did not have apparent control of the ball.
Fusselier and Wolverines coach Quincy Brewer both received technical fouls, leaving Benson to hit three of four technical foul free-throws to grab the momentum back with just under a minute to play.
“Such a crazy finish but I’m glad it happened the way it happened,” said Pirate guard Prince Abidoye.
Benson led all Pirate scorers with 23 points and was named to the all-tournament team after the game. Oxnard College’s John Johnson was also named to the five-player team.
In the tournament, the Pirates had beaten Compton on Friday and Santa Barbara City on Saturday to reach the championship game. Host Oxnard played the Vaqueros in the third-place game, ultimately defeating the Vaqueros 89-78.
With the Condor Classic championship success, the Pirates improve their record to 7-4 and will play in two more tournaments in the upcoming weeks, as they travel up north to San Jose to play in the San Jose tournament and play in the College of the Canyons tournament to bring in the New Year and league play.
