The Ventura College men's basketball team needed huge nights by forwards Will Faiivae and Randy Hunter to clinch a share of the WSC North title Saturday night

Faiivae had 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Hunter had 16 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.

"It was a guaranteed bucked with Will and Randy inside," said sophomore captain Danny Benson, who had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

In the wake of the 64-59 loss at Hancock Wednesday night that knocked it out of first place in the WSC North, the Ventura College men's basketball team can expect some changes in practice today:

"I'm going to talk to the team about making some changes in the starting lineup, because we haven't been getting off to a fast, hard start," said head coach Ned Mircetic Wednesday night. "That'll be part of our discussion in practice (this afternoon).

Ventura has started point guard Dee Pinkard, guard Eric Gray, guard Danny Benson, forward Anthony Burtley and center Will Faiivae for much of the season.

"The inconsistency in the starting five is forcing my hand to make changes," said Mircetic. "I'm not pleased at all with how the first two, three, four minutes of the game (have been)."

"I can't depend on what we have right now and this time of year, I should be able to depend on some things with absolute certainty."

Benson scored 13 points Wednesday to lead the team for the fifth time in six games and Pinkard added 11 points. But Gray was 1 of 7 from 3-point line in totaling five points and Faiivae, mired in foul troubled, was shut out, 0 for 2 from the field with five turnovers.

"I think I know what the problem is and I'm going to give it a good look in practice (this afternoon)," said Mircetic. "I don't understand how you can be at game No. 6 in league, the end of the first round, and we don't come out and kick somebody's (butt). Even if we don't do it, we come out with that intent and we execute it.

"It's late in the year, but it is what it is. As long as you have a breath in you, you look to make adjustments, whether they are subtle changes in footwork or sweeping changes in the lineup. We're going to be looking at all options.

"I can't deal with getting off to slow starts like that, game in, game out... I'm going to look at shaking things up a little."

Faiivae, who averages 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, was shut out for the first time all season after picking up two quick fouls and sitting the remaining 17 minutes of the first half. He had been held to single digits once in the previous eight games.

"He got one cheap foul and one regular Will foul," said Mircetic. "We need him rebounding, we need him on defense, we need him on multiple fronts. For him to be in foul trouble necessitates adjustments to the lineup that I don't want to make at that time."

Here's the full HomefieldSports.com broadcast of the Ventura College men's basketball team's 88-76 win at Santa Barbara City Wednesday night, featuring play-by-play extraordinaire Danny Page:

And the postgame interview with Ventura center Will Faiivae:

Oxnard College men's basketball coach Jason Cunningham reaches to the Condors moving within a game of first-place Cuesta in the loss column with a 75-70 win over Los Angeles Pierce Wednesday night:

"Pierce is a scrappy team, they play hard... I told our guys that it didn't bode well for our chances, considering the way we've played against sub-.500 teams."

When Oxnard fell behind by 11 in the first half, it still didn't look good, until Jonathan Johnson and Marc Pajund started hitting 3s, combining for 27 first-half points.

"Somehow we got right back in it. J.J. hit a 3. Pajund hit a 3. I guess it just clicked and these guys picked it up."

Of course, Pierce didn't go away.

"They fought to get back in the game, but we hit our free throws down the stretch."

(on Hancock handing Cuesta its first loss in WSC North play, rather than Oxnard)

"I was very upset about it. We truly felt that we had the talent and were good enough to beat them."

(On Saturday's trip to local rival Ventura)

"We know (the rivalry) from the three times we played them last year. It's going to be the same thing. We're going to play well for 20 minutes and the second half is a crapshoot.

"That's the scary thing. Even this week, I was more worried about playing (last-place) Pierce than (second-place) Ventura.

"We know the rivalry. We know these kids know each other. When we got into the van after the game tonight, we've got (Ventura's Will Faiivae) texting our guys talking about the game."

(On his memories from the three games against Ventura last season)

"Remember what I told you before the game over there (in conference). 'We're going to win tonight.' At halftime, when we were up by 20 (points), you could hear a pindrop over there."

Before the late fireworks in the women's game, the Ventura College and Santa Barbara City College men's basketball teams played a coaching chess match.

Ventura won 88-76, but not before Santa Barbara head coach Morris Hodges gave the Pirates plenty of trouble by switching from Vance Walberg's drive-and-kick offense to the triangle offense and slapping on a zone press.

"They're a good team, they're well coached and they made some adjustments," said Ventura coach Ned Mircetic. "The game was up for grabs

"It took four of five minutes, but we finally hit the brakes and put the car into gear again."

The offensive adjustment helped Santa Barbara close a 21-point deficit to 68-64 with 7:31 to play.

"We got a little lazy," said point guard Danny Benson, who keyed the game with 16 points and seven assists. "When they came back, we had to go back to what our coaches told us to do."

"I was scared there for a second," said center Will Faiivae, who had 10 points and rocked the rim with three memorable dunks. "Everyone's playing hard. We're hungry for conference."

Santa Barbara had dug out of a 19-point hole in win over Pierce last week.

"We couldn't let them do it this game," said Benson.

Special mention for Ventura guard Eric Gray, who not only scored 11 points, but helped the Pirates shut out high-scoring Santa Barbara guard Mark Keeten.

"We knew Keeten from last year," said Benson. "We did what we needed to do."

Sophomore Will Faiivae and freshman Randy Hunter had 12 points each as the Ventura College men's basketball team won its eighth straight game, 72-57, at Imperial Valley Saturday night.

Ventura, ranked No. 15 in Southern California, is now 9-3.

Community College men's basketball

Ventura 87, Los Angeles Valley 72: Ventura makes it seven in a row by Joe Curley in Van Nuys

Game Highlights from HomefieldSports.com:

Will Faiivae's postgame interview:

Community College women's basketball

Community College notebook: Hurd posting strong scoring numbers for Moorparkby Joe Curley

Ventura College guard Dee Pinkard, who missed the end of his freshman campaign with a knee injury, seems to be turning a corner.

The Hueneme High graduate had a big game in the Ventura College men's basketball team's best game thus far this season, a 97-77 win over Santa Barbara City.

Pinkard had eight points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, one block and two steals.

"And he's going to get better each week as he gets in better shape from the injury," said coach Will Cowen.

Will Faiivae had 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks as the Ventura College men's basketball team improved to 3-3 with a 77-72 win over Santa Monica in the consolation championship of the Irvine Valley tournament.

Point guard Mike Diacos had a team high 11 points as the Pirates had 21 assists against only 12 turnovers.

Ventura improved to 2-1 this weekend without head coach Ned Mircetic, who was with the VC women's team.

"All these close games teach them character," said Mircetic from Ventura, where he was preparing for the VC women's game tonight against Santa Ana in Glendale. "I feel good about the weekend."

Full box after jump.

Some thoughts by coach Ned Mircetic on the Ventura College men's basketball team's performance in its scrimmage Tuesday against Westmont:

"Dee Pinkard had a kind of coming-out party."

"Prince (Abidoye) played well. He was able to get to the rim and draw a lot of fouls."

"Will Faiivae was active, but he was foul prone."

"Danny Benson is a breath away from being a tremendous player for us."

The sophomores mostly stood out. But there was one freshman who was highlighted, Channel Islands High product Jordan Harris.

"Jordan Harris showed energy on the board and patience in the high post."

Mircetic was upset that point guard Mike Diacos, a Camarillo High graduate who transfered from Nebraska, didn't see more playing time.

"Diacos did fine. I didn't play him enough. I was trying different combination and he got squeezed out of the combinations. That was more on me looking at different combinations."