MARAUDER MEN'S BASKETBALL REBOUNDS FROM LOSS TO TAKE THIRD PLACE IN HOST TOURNEY

Photo by Bruce Jacobsen

LANCASTER - It's a good thing the Marauder men's basketball team has a short memory.

That meant bad things for Ventura.

The Marauders put Saturday night's disappointing loss to De Anza out of their minds and were dominant from start to finish an easy 83-54 victory  over the red hot Pirates Sunday afternoon in capturing third place at the Gregg Anderson Memorial at the 66th Annual AVC Men's Basketball Tournament.

"We played well and we played together. We were down two starters and everyone stepped up to the plate," AVC's Angelo Solis said. "It was a great win and well deserved. This will be a huge turning point for us. Day by day we just have to focus on our next opponent."

After the Marauder took a 23-21 lead, they never looked back. AVC led 39-33 at halftime.

Opening the second half Greg Floyd hit a putback following a missed shot and later connected on a 3-pointer putting the Marauders up 48-35. Later, D'Mauria Jones hit a bucket which capped a 15-2 run and gave AVC a 54-35 lead.

"Today we played them at their best and at our worst," said Floyd, referring to playing without starters Julian Payton and Jamar Kemp. "This game shows us what we're capable of. We played as a unit."

AVC led by as many as 33 points and its defense held Ventura to 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the second half. The Pirates shot below 30 percent in the second half. The Marauders had their best rebounding game of the season, holding a 46-25 advantage for the game.

Jones, who was named to the All-Tournament team, finished with a game-high 28 points. Floyd and Osi Nwachukwu finished with 16 and 13 points respectively.