Aztecs Men's Basketball Season Ends at South Mountain

The Pima Community College men's basketball team's (17-14) season came to end in the Region I, Division II semifinal game on Wednesday at South Mountain Community College (19-12).

The No. 3 seeded Aztecs were outscored 23-6 in the final 4:50 of the game in their 96-81 loss against the No. 2 Cougars. This was the third straight year the Aztecs were ousted in the Region semifinal game.

Sophomore Yusuf Shehata (Amphitheater HS) hit two free throws to put the Aztecs ahead 75-73 with 4:50 left but the Cougars went on an 8-0 run in under a minute that was sparked by South Mountain's Gavin Wood, who hit two 3-pointers to put Pima behind 81-75. Shehata hit three free throws to close the gap to three points and later, freshman Kwintin Williams' basket in the paint put the Aztecs within two points at 82-80. The Cougars went on another 8-0 run to make it 90-80 with a little over a minute left. South Mountain scored the final six points of the game.

Pima trailed 51-48 early in the second half but went on a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 58-51 with 11:19 left.

South Mountain took an early nine point lead in the first half but the Aztecs came back with a 15-6 run to take a 35-30 advantage. The game was tied 38-38 at halftime.

The Aztecs produced four players in double figures. Shehata hit six 3-pointers and went on to score a team-high 23 points. Williams finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Justice Martion had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while freshman Keven Biggs (Cienega HS) also scored 14 points.

The Aztecs finished the season at 17-14; its third straight season with 15 wins or more under coach Brian Peabody. It was also their third straight trip to the Region I, Division II playoffs. The Aztecs produced an ACCAC conference record of 12-10, their best mark since the 2000-01 season.

Yusuf Shehata/Photo by Ben Carbajal