The door, seemingly slammed shut ages ago, creaked open.

With foul trouble, injuries and momentum conspiring against it, the Ventura College men's basketball team seemed powerless to watch a 21-point lead with 13 minutes to play transform into its first Western State Conference loss of the season.

But Kevin Menner tallied 13 of his 23 points down the stretch and coach Greg Winslow made a key strategic adjustment late as Ventura turned away cross-county rival Moorpark's late charge, 95-85, Wednesday night at the VC Athletic Event Center.

"I'm so proud of the kids," said Winslow. "They showed a lot of heart down the stretch."

Ventura (23-5, 9-0) swept the two-game series with Moorpark for the first time since 2004.

Despite 20 points from Trevin Johnson and 16 points from Nick Noyer, Moorpark (15-12, 6-4) was eliminated from the WSC North race.

Rio Mesa High product Ryan McLucas had 23 points and six 3-pointers as Oxnard defeated Cuesta, 70-64, to remain two games back in the race.

Ventura was cruising, up 64-43, with 13:43 to play.

But freshman guard Dee Pinkard was out, having suffered a knee injury midway through the first half, and sophomore forward Brandon Dixon (23 points) fouled out with 7:25 to play. Less than a minute later, Menner picked up his fourth foul.

And he had company. When Nick Noyer's drive pulled Moorpark within 81-74 with 5:44 left, four of the five Pirates on the floor had four fouls.

"We couldn't get that fifth foul," said freshman Eric Gray, who played all 40 minutes.

With the lead whittled to five points with 4:33 to play, Ventura switched to a zone defense to stop the bleeding.

"I think that caught them off guard," said Winslow.

The Raiders couldn't make enough shots or draw enough fouls down the stretch to get within six points. Moorpark missed all five 3-pointers it attempted in the final minutes.

"To me, quitting isn't an option," said Moorpark coach Remy McCarthy. "We had a couple of good looks at the basket. It just wouldn't go down for us."

Moorpark was whistled for 34 fouls, 24 in the second half.

"That's what happens when you foul," said McCarthy, "which isn't something we wanted to do tonight. But they're athletic and they attack the basket."

Ventura attempted a whopping 54 free throws, making 38. But the Pirates made one of two on eight trips down the stretch before Prince Abidoye and Pepe Araujo swished both in the final minute.

Menner, who leads the state in scoring among freshmen, had just eight points at halftime after struggling with foul trouble.

Trailing 43-33 at the half, Moorpark scored the first four points of the second half to inch within six points.

But Ventura ripped off a 21-6 run to seemingly suck the drama out of the occasion. Until it was forced to play without Dixon.

"I feel like I let my team down," said Dixon.

Ventura will anxiously await a diagnosis on Pinkard's knee.

"It locked up on me," said Pinkard. "I hope it's not too bad. It's a bad time with the playoffs coming up."