It didn't take long for new head coach Amaurys Fermin and the Porterville College men's basketball team to make its presence felt. Facing Southern California preseason No. 10-ranked Allan Hancock College, Fermin and the Pirates earned victory No. 1, beating the Bulldogs by a final score of 78-76 in their 2021-22 season-opener on Tuesday.

PC led 39-32 at halftime and had to hold off a furious late-game surge by Allan Hancock to pull off the upset.

Quame Smith came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points to lead PC. The Pirates also got 15 points from Chozen Amadi, 13 points and 6 assists from Isaiah Josue, and 10 points and 6 rebounds from Chirrag Sidhu.

Porterville is back in action on Thursday (Nov. 4) when the Pirates open up the three-day Chabot College Gladiator Classic against Ohlone College.