Aztecs men's basketball stifle Central Arizona College down the stretch

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (19-9, 13-7 in ACCAC) grinded out a win on Wednesday against Central Arizona College (15-13, 8-12) on Wednesday at the West Campus.

The No. 20 ranked Aztecs defeated the Vaqueros 84-79 and moved two games ahead of Glendale Community College for the No. 2 seed at the Region I, Division II tournament with two regular season games left.

The win gave head coach Brian Peabody the most wins he's had in a single season at Pima (19) and the most ACCAC conference wins (13). The Aztecs haven't won 13 conference games since the 2000-01 season.

After the Vaqueros converted on a three-point play, the Aztecs saw their lead dwindle down to two points at 78-76 with 27 seconds left. They struggled to find a good shot until the ball went out of bounds with three seconds left on the shot clock. Sophomore Emilio Acedo (Salpointe Catholic HS) found his spot and drained a three-pointer before time expired. Fellow sophomore Deion James hit two free throws to make it 83-76 with 15 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

The Aztecs trailed for much of the first half but finished tied at 33-33. The Aztecs outscored the Vaqueros 51-46 for the second half.

James finished with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds while Acedo had 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

The Pima bench scored 34 points as freshman Isaiah Murphy (Cienega HS) scored 19 points on 7 for 11 shooting Freshman Alize Travis contributed with 12 points and two assists.

The Aztecs avenged its 103-97 loss at Central Arizona College last month in Coolidge.

The Aztecs will play at Mesa Community College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

CAC     33     46     79
PCC     33     51     84