Moorpark Comes On Strong to Beat Ventura, 82-72

Moorpark College has earned a reputation of living dangerously with foul trouble.

Wednesday night was no exception.

Forward Lester Strong, playing with four fouls in the second half, ignited a 14-6 run to lead the Raiders to an 82-72 Western State Conference Northern Division victory over Ventura in a men’s basketball game at Moorpark College.

The Raiders (16-5, 3-1 in conference play) moved into a first-place tie with Ventura (18-6, 3-1).

Moorpark led, 51-50, with 12:35 to play before Strong scored six of the Musketeers’ next 14 points to open a 65-56 lead.

Strong had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and opened up the lanes for guard Devin Montgomery, who scored 26 points.

The Pirates pulled to within 68-64 when Desmond Penigar hit one of his four three-pointers with 5:25 to play, before the Raiders pulled away.

“We’re tired of getting into foul trouble, but if we’re going to get in it, we’re not going to sweat it,” Moorpark Coach Remy McCarthy said. “We’re going to play our game.”

Penigar scored 24 points and had 16 rebounds for Ventura. His outside attack wasn’t enough to overcome Moorpark’s interior game.

“We had a couple of plays designed to go right at [Strong],” Penigar said. “We shot jumpers instead of going right at him. That gave him a lot of confidence and he did a nice job on us.”

Alhaji Mohammed, Jr., scored 20 points and Ryan Fay had 10 for Ventura, which was eight for 21 from three-point range.

Ventura led, 42-40, after a first half that featured seven lead changes.

The Raiders finished with 19 fouls, but only forward Trevor Lorz fouled out.

“When it comes to fouls, you gamble,” Ventura Coach Greg Winslow said. “[McCarthy] put [Strong] back in the first half with two fouls. If he gets a third foul, it’s a different story.”

“I just had to get inside,” said Strong, who had 11 points in the second half. “I knew [Penigar] wasn’t going to pick up any silly fouls. We had to play disciplined as a team.”