Aztecs men's basketball stage furious rally but fall short at Arizona Western College
The Pima Community College men's basketball team (26-4, 18-4 in ACCAC) closed out the regular season on Tuesday in a dramatic game at Arizona Western College (20-10, 15-7).
The No. 7 ranked Aztecs came back from a double-digit deficit at halftime but fell in the end 95-88 to the Matadors. The teams split the regular season head-to-head meetings. The Aztecs won 112-102 last month at the West Campus.
Down 52-36 at the break, the Aztecs outscored the Matadors 28-14 in the first nine minutes of the second half to close the gap to 66-64. The Aztecs went on an 11-3 run in the next three minutes to take a 75-69 advantage.
The Aztecs led 80-79 with 4:37 left in the game but the Matadors outscored Pima 14-8 in a little over four minutes to take the lead for good.
Three Aztecs produced double-doubles led by sophomore Justin Bessard, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Alize Travis had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while fellow sophomore Ilunga Moise (Raymond S. Kellis HS) posted 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Freshman Abram Carrasco (Cholla HS) finished with 13 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals. Freshman Jeremiah Bailey scored 13 points and sophomore Isaiah Murphy (Cienega HS) contributed with 10 points.
The Aztecs set new program records in single season overall wins and ACCAC conference wins.
The Aztecs will be the No. 2 seed for the Region I, Division II tournament. They will host the semifinal game at the West Campus Gymnasium on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Opponent is to TBA.
PCC 36 52 88
AWC 52 43 95
