Cold-shooting Vaqueros drop WSC opener at Ventura

Ventura jumped out to leads of 19-2, 28-7 and 37-14 on Saturday night and spoiled SBCC's WSC North men's basketball debut with an 86-51 victory.

Santa Barbara (3-15, 0-1) missed its first nine shots and had six turnovers in the first 7:26 as the Pirates (10-9, 1-0) built a 19-2 advantage.

The Pirates hit nearly 60% in the opening half compared to 26.9% for the Vaqueros. Ventura led 47-20 at intermission.

Ventura dominated the backboards 48-26 and points in the paint (52-26). Ventura outshot the visitors 52.1% to 32.7% for the game.

Zeke McMurtry returned to the SBCC lineup after missing four games and recorded his seventh double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Kile Kleiner and Joseph Holden added 12 points apiece.

Jelani Bell led four Pirates in double figures with 16 points.

The Pirates opened the second half on a 15-6 burst, stretching the lead to 36 points at 62-26.

The Vaqueros return home to host Moorpark on Wednesday at 5 p.m.