Aztecs Men's Basketball uses a pair of second half runs to beat South Mountain for sixth straight win

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (20-3, 12-3 in ACCAC) secured its 20+ win season for the fifth time in seven years (excluding the 2020-21 Covid season) on Wednesday after beating South Mountain Community College (8-15, 3-12) in Phoenix.

• The No. 18 ranked Aztecs defeated the Cougars 97-81 for their sixth straight victory.
• Up 53-51 with almost 17 minutes left in the game, the Aztecs scored seven straight points when sophomore Jaylen Alexander made a basket in the paint, freshman Kota Benson (Mesa HS) drained a three-pointer and sophomore Dillan Baker (Salpointe Catholic HS) made a sharp cut to the basket where Benson found him for the lay in. The Aztecs capitalized on this with a 16-4 run to go up 69-55.
• The Cougars cut it back to single digits and got as close as 69-63 but the Aztecs scored seven straight points again and turned it into a 15-5 run was capped by Alexander's and freshman Gabe Oldham's baskets in the paint. The Aztecs led 84-68 with around five minutes remaining. They led by as much as 17 points when Baker's three-pointer made it 93-76.
• The first half saw three ties and nine lead changes. With the score tied at 40-40, Benson converted on a three-point play and hit a three-pointer to give Pima a 48-42 at the break.
• Alexander scored a game-high 29 points as he went 9 for 12 from the field and 10 for 13 from the free throw line. He also had six rebounds and two assists.
• Benson was 6 for 9 shooting and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc as he finished with 18 points to go along with six rebounds.
• Baker closed out the game with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists while sophomore Zach Williamson posted 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Oldham contributed with six points and 10 rebounds.

The Aztecs will be back at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium on Saturday when they play Yavapai College at 4:00 p.m.

PCC      48   49   97
SMCC  42   39   81