Aztecs Men's Basketball suffers first defeat to Cochise College

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (8-1, 4-1 in ACCAC) suffered its first blemish of the season on Saturday as it faced off against Cochise College (8-2, 5-0).

• The Aztecs fell to the Apaches 80-73 at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium.
• Sophomore Traivar Jackson scored to cut Cochise's lead to 73-70 with 2:01 left in the game but the Apaches scored the next two baskets. Sophomore Cesar Saenz (Sabino HS) drained a three-pointer to make it 77-73 with 22 seconds left but Cochise hit three free throws to close it out.
• The Aztecs went up 18-15 mid way through the first half but the Apaches went on a 21-7 run in the next nine minutes to put Pima behind 36-25. The Aztecs trailed 38-29 at the break.
• Down 49-39, the Aztecs went on an 8-0 run that was capped off by freshman Jaylen Alexander's three-point play to make it 49-47. The Aztecs took the lead back at 59-58 with 10:29 left after Alexander converted on another three-point play. The Aztecs took a 66-63 lead but Cochise went on a 10-0 run to retake the lead for good at 73-66 with 5:03 remaining.
• Saenz finished with a team-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists.
• Alexander fell short of a double-double as he posted 18 points and nine rebounds after going 8 for 13 from the field. He also had two blocks.
• Freshman Mike Pope added 15 points and five rebounds while Jackson finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

The Aztecs will move away from ACCAC conference play for their final game before the winter break. They will host Taylor Made Prep on Tuesday at the West Campus Aztec Gym. Tipoff is at 6:00 p.m.

COC   38   42   80
PCC    29   44   73