Aztecs Men's Basketball struggle down the stretch, fall to Cochise College

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (12-5, 4-4 in ACCAC) faced a tough challenge with Cochise College on Wednesday as the two NJCAA nationally-ranked teams clashed at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium.

• The No. 9 ranked Aztecs (Division II) fell to No. 25 Cochise College (Division I) 87-78 as Pima returned to ACCAC conference play.
• The Aztecs held on to a 70-66 lead and called a timeout with 7:10 left but the Apaches closed out the game on a 21-8 run. Cochise took their biggest lead of the game at 84-74 but sophomore Daniel Moody (Walden Grove HS) hit a three-pointer to bring it back to a single digit deficit and Pima called timeout with 1:43 left.
• The Aztecs held a double digit lead of their own early in the game at 19-7 with 13:48 left in the first half. Pima clinged to a 44-40 lead at halftime but Cochise outscored them 47-34 in the second half.
• The game featured nine ties and six lead changes.
• Moody scored a game-high 32 points on 11 for 18 shooting and 7 for 13 from three-point range. He also had 10 rebounds.
• Freshman Itury Kitt (Eastpointe HS) was the other Pima player in double figures as he finished with 11 points.
• Sophomore Chrishon Dixon had eight points and seven assists while freshman Pierce Sterling posted eight points and five assists. Freshman Traivar Jackson contributed with eight points and five rebounds but he fouled out late in the second half.
• The Aztecs will be on the road for the next three games against ACCAC Division I teams. They'll play at Eastern Arizona College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

CC     40   47   87
PCC   44   34   78