Ventura Holds Off Moorpark : Basketball: Slowdown tactics push Pirates into overtime before they prevail, 85-80.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Ventura’s undefeated men’s basketball team, ranked No. 1 in the state, was supposed to blow out Moorpark on Wednesday night.

After all, Ventura had defeated Moorpark convincingly in three previous meetings and the Pirates don’t often lose at home.

But Moorpark pushed its hosts to the limit and forced the game into overtime before falling, 85-80.

“This is Moorpark-Ventura, so throw out all the records and throw out everything,” Ventura Coach Phil Mathews said. “It’s a natural rivalry. They played extremely hard.”

The victory ties a Ventura school record for consecutive victories in a season (29) and gives the Pirates (29-0, 7-0) an impressive 38-1 mark in the Western State Conference North Division over the last five seasons.

Ventura, in its last home game of the regular season, has an equally impressive 58-1 record at home over the last four seasons.

The loss eliminates Moorpark (18-11, 2-5) from North Division title contention.

“What can I say? We played as well as we could play,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said. “It’s always tough playing here with these crowds.”

The Raiders had several opportunities to win. They led, 72-69, with 1 minutes 14 seconds to play in regulation. Ventura’s Rafer Alston missed the three-point shot that could have tied the score with 58 seconds left.

Hakeem Ward grabbed the rebound and made a hook shot that cut Moorpark’s lead to one point.

With 18 seconds left, Alston fouled Jaime Jaquez, who made a pair of free throws to give the Raiders a 74-71 edge.

Ventura’s Shannon Taylor nailed a three-pointer from the right side with three seconds left that sent the game into overtime.

Taylor led Ventura with 19 points, including four three-pointers. “I can’t wait to see the video to see where his foot was,” Nordquist said. “I’m not so sure he hit that three.”

There was never any question that Taylor was well behind the three-point line when he took the shot, however.

Ventura dominated the overtime period while Moorpark missed a series of crucial shots. Ventura led, 83-80, with 13 seconds left when Jamal Cobbs made a pair of free throws.

Ward had 14 points for the Pirates and Gerald Zimmerman had 13.

Moorpark was led by Jaffers Bailey’s game-high 20 points. Ventura had a difficult time containing the 6-foot-5 sophomore inside.

“He played great,” Mathews said. “Their inside guys played a lot better than our inside guys. There’s no doubt about that.”

In fact, Moorpark outperformed Ventura in other respects. The Raiders were successful in slowing down the pace against a team that has scored 100 or more points in 14 games this season.

“They wanted to control the tempo, and it worked,” Mathews said.