Oxnard (16-14, 9-2) saw most of what had been a 23-point lead disappear, but made several key plays in the final seconds to hold off a furious rally by host #5 Ventura (24-6, 10-1), escaping with a 69-66 win and preventing the Pirates from clinching the WSC-North division crown Wednesday night in Ventura.
Oxnard seemed in control of the game for much of the night, opening a 21-point lead at halftime, pushing it to 23 points early in the second half and still leading by 21 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
But Ventura stormed back, scoring 40 points in the last 10-plus minutes to cut the Condor advantage to just 2 points with 23.8 seconds remaining. But four free throws by Oxnard - two each by PF Jonathan Malloy and SG Thaddeus Francis, sandwiched around a steal by SG Ryan McLucas, in the final 15 seconds allowed Oxnard to come away with the win.
It was a tense night, with Ventura Coach Greg Winslow coaching his final regular season home game, against former protege Jeff Theiler, now the head coach at Oxnard. Both schools have had their share of adversity this season, losing a combined six players to controversy over residency issues. And Winslow announced his resignation due to health reasons over the weekend.
But the game had considerable importance, both for the Pirates, who hoped to clich the WSC-North title, and for Oxnard, which badly needed the win to keep its playoff hopes alive.
And for the first 30 minutes, it was Oxnard that seemed to have things in control. The Condors jumped out to a 4-0 lead early on, but Ventura rallied quickly to tie the score at 10 with 14:20 left. Then the Pirates proceded to score just 7 more points in that 14:20, allowing the Condors to take a 38-17 halftime lead.
And when the second half began, Oxnard got a basket from Ctr Josh Crawford to increase its lead to 40-17. Ventura put together an 8-0 run to cut the margin to 15 at 40-25, but then Oxnard pushed its advantage back to 21 at 47-26 with just over 10 minutes left.
And in those 10 minutes, Ventura scored 40 points to come almost all the way back. The Pirates cut the margin to two points at 65-63 with 23.8 seconds left, only to see Oxnard manage to hold on for the win.
The troubles for Oxnard began when three starters picked up their fourth fouls, beginning with Crawford at 12:54, then SF Brandon Hames with 11:48 left and finally McLucas with 7:49 remaining. With just seven players available, the Condors hardly had the depth to withstand the foul trouble.
Still, Oxnard still held what seemed like a fairly safe 14-point lead at 60-46 with less than 5 minutes left. And even after a pair of baskets by Ctr Brandon Dixon, sandwiched around another by PG Prince Abidoye, cut the margin to 8 at 60-52 with 3:40 left, Oxnard pushed the lead back to double figures at 62-52 with a basket by Malloy with just less than 3 minutes left.
But the Pirates kept coming. A short jumper by SF Kevin Menner, who had just 3 points in the first half and was benched for the first 7 minutes of the second half, again cut the margin to 8 points at 62-54. And this time, the rally continued with a 3-point play by PG Robert Wright with 1:43 left, with Crawford fouling out for Oxnard on the play. That made it 62-57.
Oxnard got a basket from Hames to make it 64-57, but then a free throw by Menner made it 64-58 with 1:17 left. Then, Oxnard PG John Johnson turned the ball over on a travel with 51.2 seconds left. A driving lay-up by Abidoye moments later made it 64-60 with 43.3 seconds left.
Ventura sent Malloy to the free throw line with 41.5 seconds left, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. But Menner missed a shot for Ventura, and Malloy got the rebound. He was again fouled, and this time he made one of two free throws to make it 65-60 with 31.0 seconds left.
However, Ventura SG Eric Gray kept Pirates hopes alive with a pull-up 3-pointer with 23.8 seconds left that made it 65-63.
But that would be as close as Ventura would get. On the restart, the Pirates again had no choice but to foul, and sent Malloy to the free throw line. This time, the 6-4 sophomore made both free throws to make it 67-63. Then, as Gray dribbled down the court, McLucas deflected the ball away for the steal. Francis was fouled and went to the line, and he made both free throws to make it 69-63 with 7.1 seconds left.
Menner made the crazy shot of the night moments later, a spinning, off-balance, bank-shot 3-pointer that made it 69-66 with exactly one second left. But after a timeout, Oxnard successfully inbounded the ball and ran the final second off the clock for the win.
For the Condors, Malloy led all scorers with 22 pts, and also had 7 rebs. Hames, recently back in action after missing several weeks with a stress reaction in his leg, had 14 pts and 5 rebs. Johnson had a solid game with 13 pts and a game-high 8 asts. And Crawford had 7 pts and game-highs of 11 rebs and 4 blocks before fouling out.
For Ventura, Menner had a team-high 19 pts while Abidoye added 17 plus a team-high 3 asts. PF Will Faiivae just missed a double-double with 11 pts and 9 rebs, while Dixon got the double-double with 10 pts and 10 rebs.
With the win, Oxnard improves to 16-14 overall and 9-2 in the WSC-North, keeping its playoff hopes very much alive heading into its season finale Saturday against Moorpark. Ventura, which falls to 24-6 overall and 10-1 in the WSC-North, can still clinch the division title with a win Saturday at Allan Hancock.
box score
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 7:30 pm
at the Ventura College Athletic Event Center
WSC-North
Oxnard Condors 69:
5-Ryan McLucas, SG - 2/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
11-John Johnson, PG - 5/8 fg, 2/6 ft, 4 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
20-Brandon Hames, SF - 6/8 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 14 pts
21-Josh Crawford, C - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 11 reb, 4 blk, 5 pf, 7 pts
22-Jonathan Malloy, SF - 7/16 fg, 7/9 ft, 7 reb, 2 pf, 22 pts
12-Thaddeus Francis, G - 1/1 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
3-Sampson Brue, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 24/46 fg (.522), 15/25 ft (.600), 32 reb, 14 ast, 5 blk, 5 stl, 20 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (6): McLucas 2, Hames 2, Johnson, Malloy
Fouled Out: Crawford 1:43 left
Turnovers (18): Johnson 6, Malloy 5, Hames 2, Crawford 2, McLucas, Francis, Brue
Ventura Pirates 66:
4-Kevin Menner, SF - 7/18 fg, 4/7 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
11-Prince Abidoye, PG - 7/17 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 17 pts
20-Eric Gray, SG - 1/5 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
33-Brandon Dixon, C - 5/13 fg, 10 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 10 pts
42-Will Faiivae, PF - 4/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 11 pts
10-Pepe Araujo, G - 0/3 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
22-Robert Wright, G - 3/9 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
12-Kyohei Kodera, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
30-Alex Jamerson, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/71 fg (.380), 9/17 ft (.529), 42 reb, 8 ast, 4 blk, 7 stl, 18 pf, 66 pts
3-pt fg (3): Menner, Abidoye, Gray
Turnovers (15): Menner 6, Gray 3, Faiivae 3, Dixon, Wright, team
Halftime Score: Oxnard 38, Ventura 17
Updated Records: Oxnard 16-14, 9-2 in WSC-N; Ventura (#5-South, #10-Calif) 24-6, 10-1 in WSC-N
Oxnard led by 23 at 40-17 and by 21 at 47-26 with just over 10 minutes left. Ventura rallied to cut the lead to 2 at 65-63 with 23.8 seconds left but could get no closer. Malloy and Francis each made 2 FTs in the final 15 seconds to seal the win for Oxnard.
