MONTEREY, Calif. (Interstat) — The winless Porterville Pirates will look to break into the victory column when they face the Monterey Peninsula Lobos in a California men’s junior college basketball matchup Friday at the Monterey Bay Classic.

The Pirates (0-8) are coming off a 69-56 road loss at Solano on Thursday, their eighth consecutive defeat to open the season. The Lobos (3-6) also played Thursday, falling 60-56 at home to Santa Barbara.

Porterville will lean on forward Jermarcus Brown, who has been a consistent bright spot during the team’s struggles. Brown is averaging 14.3 points and 9.6 rebounds over his last six games, including a 20-point, 12-rebound performance at Bakersfield on Nov. 11 and a 20-point, 9-rebound effort against Los Angeles Southwest on Nov. 22.

Monterey Peninsula has shown sporadic offense, scoring 86 points in wins over De Anza and Canada (Calif.) but being held to 56 or fewer points in three of their losses. They will be favored on their home floor against a Porterville squad that has lost its games by an average margin of 17.6 points.

According to Interstat’s ELO system, the Lobos have a 55.6% probability of winning Friday’s contest.

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Monterey Peninsula College. Following the tournament, Porterville will host Antelope Valley on Dec. 12, while Monterey Peninsula travels to face Allan Hancock on Dec. 11.