Shehata Drops 35 as Aztecs Men's Basketball Beat Tohono O'Odham

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (6-5, 3-4 in ACCAC) closed out ACCAC conference play in 2015 with a grinding win on Monday at the West Campus.

The Aztecs gave themselves a cushion and held on to in their 94-90 win over Tohono O'Odham Community College.

Down 86-85 with 1:35 left in the game, freshman Justin Bessard got to the foul line and hit a pair to put Pima back on top at 87-86. He grabbed a defensive rebound and converted on a three-point play on the next trip down court to make it 90-86 with 47.9 seconds left. Later, up 90-88, sophomore Yusef Shehata (Amphitheater HS) collected a steal and went coast-to-coast to put the Aztecs back up by four points. After a Tohono O'Odham miss, Bessard fought and got the defensive rebound. Shehata hit two free throws to put the game away.

In the first half, the Aztecs trailed 41-32 with 3:56 left but finished the half on a 10-0 run to take a 42-41 lead at the break.

Shehata hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 35 points. He went 10 for 15 from the field and was 8 for 10 from the free throw line. Bessard scored all 15 of his points in the second half and had nine rebounds and two blocks. He was 5 for 7 from the field and 5 for 5 from the foul line. Sophomore Justice Martion finished with 13 points and freshman Damon Dubots contributed with 10 points.

The Aztecs will play in the Modesto Junior College Tournament starting on Wednesday. Pima will play against Fresno City College at 2:00 p.m. Follow the MJC tournament bracket

Yusef Shehata/Photo by Ben Carbajal 2015