Pirates open Grossmont tournament with win over host Griffins

EL CAJON – Led by double-doubles from both Musa Silah and Jermarcus Brown, the Porterville College men's basketball team cruised to a 75-59 win over Grossmont College to open the three-day Grossmont Invitational on Friday.

The Pirates followed that with a 75-52 loss to Moorpark College on Saturday and closed out the tourney with a narrow 78-74 defeat by Palomar College.

Porterville 75, Grossmont 59
Porterville took a 10-point lead (30-20) into halftime and outrebounded Grossmont by a 41-27 margin.

Silah recorded his second double-double of the year, scoring a season-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds while Brown had 16 points and a season-best 14 boards to help PC snap a two-game skid.

Noah Hall and Tarik Dacosta both contributed 15 points to the win.

Moorpark 75, Porterville 52
20 turnovers by the Pirates hurt their chances in a Day 2 matchup against Moorpark. Silah scored a game-high 12 points while Brown totaled 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Dacosta added 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Palomar 78, Porterville 74
A second-half rally came up short as the Pirates couldn't overcome a 42-31 halftime deficit.

Hall led PC with 15 points while Silah totaled 12 points and 7 rebounds. Koji Matsuoka had a solid game with 8 points and 10 assists. Brown scored 12 points and Andre Bly and Jaymarion Stewart both added 11 points each.

Porterville moved to 3-8 overall after the weekend's action. The Pirates return to the court on Saturday (Dec. 14) when they travel to Antelope Valley College in Lancaster for a 5 p.m. non-conference game.