Aztecs Men's Basketball Falters in Second Half in Loss at Mesa

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (14-12, 9-9 in ACCAC) played a sharp first half but couldn't hold on to its lead in the end at Mesa Community College (11-12, 10-8).

The Aztecs fell 94-91 on Wednesday as they took an early 22-8 lead and led 48-39 at halftime. In the second half the Aztecs went up 50-39 after freshman Damon Dubots hit a pair of free throws. Kwintin Williams' three-pointer put the Aztecs back up by double digits at 55-45 but the Thunderbirds went on an 11-2 run to cut it to 57-56 with 12:37 left.

After some back and forth baskets, Mesa took the lead at 64-63 with 9:11 remaining but the Aztecs came back when Keven Biggs (Cienega HS) hit a three-pointer to put Pima back on top at 76-75 at the 3:50 mark.

Mesa went on a 10-2 run to make it 85-78 but the Aztecs scored on their next trip down court with another Williams three-pointer to make it 85-81 with 1:20 left. The Thunderbirds scored the next four points to pull away with 38.4 seconds left. The Aztecs were outscored 55-43 in the second half.

Sophomore Yusef Shehata (Amphitheater HS) finished with a game-high 24 points on 8 for 12 shooting and 6 for 8 from three-point range. He also had eight assists. Fellow sophomore Justice Martion had 21 points and eight rebounds while Biggs contributed with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Williams had 16 points on 7 for 8 shooting off the bench.

The Aztecs were swept in their head-to-head meetings with Mesa this season. They lost 75-69 at the West Campus in December.

The Aztecs will play at Arizona Western College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Keven Biggs/Photo by Ben Carbajal