Ventura Survives by Pouring It On : College basketball: Pirates rally past L.A. Southwest to win Glendale title, 74-68.

The drenched bright orange uniforms told how much Ventura College had to sweat it to win another game Saturday night.

The Pirates (15-1) won for the 15th consecutive time by beating L.A. Southwest, 74-68, in the championship game of the Glendale tournament.

It was the second consecutive year the Pirates have won the tournament title, but it wasn’t easy. Ventura had to play catch-up a few times and never could shake Southwest.

“These are the kinds of games we need to get ready for down the stretch,” Ventura Coach Philip Mathews said.

Ventura trailed, 31-27, at the half before going on a 20-6 run to open the second half and taking a 47-37 lead with 14 minutes 15 seconds left on the clock.

Nine of those points were scored by point guard Joey Ramirez, who finished with 24 and was named the tournament’s most valuable player for the second year in a row.

But Southwest (10-3) moved back ahead, 52-50, with 10:10 remaining on three consecutive three-pointers by Michael Lawrence (16 points).

The Pirates got the lead for good, 57-52, on a three-point basket by Ramirez and a layup and a dunk by sophomore Brandon Jessie, who had 29 points and 17 rebounds.

Ventura was lucky to trail by only four at the half.

The Pirates committed 15 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play but kept the mistakes to a minimum in the second half, giving away the ball seven times.

Fitzgerald Moore led Southwest with 17 points, followed by Lawrence and Maurice Spillers, each with 16. Spillers also had eight rebounds.

In another tournament game:

Glendale 96, Trade Tech 72--Five players scored in double figures for the Vaqueros in the consolation championship game.

Eugene Hatch, a sophomore guard from Van Nuys High, led Glendale (7-4) with 17 points.

Sophomores Jim Evans and Mike Macchia each contributed 15 for the Vaqueros, who put together their best offensive output of the season.

Glendale’s previous best effort was a 95-73 win over Desert in the season opener on Nov. 12.

Forward James Parker had 13 points and 10 assists for Glendale.

James Wade scored 24 points for Trade Tech (10-3).