Porterville College sits on top of the Central Valley Conference standings thanks to a 79-55 win over visiting Merced College in both teams' CVC opener on Wednesday night.

The Pirates, winners of three of its last four games, improved to 8-7 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

PC led 34-25 at halftime and poured it on with a 45-point second half to seal the victory. Despite getting outrebounded 60-48, Porterville took advantage of 25 Merced turnovers.

Dustin Henderson had a big game off the bench for the Pirates, leading all with 22 points. He added 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Dominic King totaled 18 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds while Tayshawun Bradford nearly had a double-double with 18 points and 9 rebounds.

Kenton Lei contributed 11 points with 8 rebounds and Chirrag Sidhu chipped in with 8 points and 8 rebounds.

Merced (6-7, 0-1 CVC) got a team-high 12 points from Cedric Ayers. Joshua Woods had 7 points and 13 rebounds.

Porterville returns to Central Valley Conference action on Saturday (Jan. 11) when it hosts No. 4 state-ranked Columbia College at 6 p.m. Columbia suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday to Fresno City College and fell to 14-1 overall.