(Phoenix , AZ) The Pima Community College men’s basketball team (28-0, 16-0 in ACCAC) visited South Mountain Community College (23-5, 12-4) on Wednesday in an ACCAC conference matchup between the top two teams in Division II.
The No. 4 ranked Aztecs used a second half run to hold off the Cougars’ momentum in their 77-65 win for their 28th straight victory. The Aztecs halted South Mountain’s six-game winning streak in the process. Pima has clinched the No. 1 seed for the Region I, Division II Tournament.
The Aztecs held a 55-48 lead, but sophomore Brock Mendoza fouled out with 6:49 left in the game. The Cougars hit a pair of free throws to cut it to 55-50. Sophomore Mason Hunt (Bradshaw Mountain HS) hit a three-pointer on the next possession, which sparked a 9-0 run in the next three minutes to give Pima their biggest lead of the game at 64-50 (14 points).
Sophomore Isaac Johnson slammed down an alley oop dunk set up by freshman Gerron Graham (Premier Prep Academy) to match the lead at 69-56 with 2:00 remaining.
The Cougars cut it to single digits at 71-62 with 49 seconds left but freshman Rowan McKenzie (Boulder Creek HS) knocked down a pair of free throws and Hunt’s basket got it back to double digits to help seal it.
The game was tied at 28-28 but the Aztecs closed the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 39-28 advantage at the break. The run started and ended with McKenzie’s three-pointers.
Johnson finished with 17 points as he went 6-for-6 from the field to go with four rebounds while Graham provided a spark off the bench with 17 points of his own. He shot 6-for-7 from the field and added six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Freshman Will Feagles (Notre Dame Prep) scored all of his 11 points in the first half as he went 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. McKenzie also scored 11 points and also had four rebounds and three steals.
Freshman Isaiah Hill (Premier Prep Academy) posted 10 of his 12 points in the second half to go along with seven assists and three rebounds.
Hunt scored all nine of his points in the second half.
The Aztecs shot 54.9 percent from the field (28-for-51) and 73.7 percent from the free throw line (14-for-19).
The Aztecs have gone 18-0 in regular season games on the road the last two seasons.
The Aztecs have two regular season home games left on the schedule as they host Glendale Community College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
