A swish for men’s B-Ball
Matt Schaeffer
Mesa’s Men’s Basketball team squared off with the Arizona Western Matadors on Jan. 29.Mesa Sophomore Michael Falvo gave the game its first points on a layup but looked a little rusty handling the ball, turning it over twice in the first few possessions.
MCC held as high as a four point lead for most of the first half. Mesa’s top player, John Balwigaire, took plenty of shots in the first half but missed most of them. Balwigaire went 5 or 16 from the field, including 4 of 11 from behind the arc.
The first half ended with Mesa leading the Matadors 31-28 despite shooting a poor 33.3 percent.
The Thunderbirds as a whole managed the ball well in the first half, turning it over just five times.
Western’s D’Angelo Scott started the second half off with a layup to bring the Matadors within one point but Mesa’s Falvo responded with a three pointer on the other end of the court to spark a ten point Thunderbird run.
Arizona Western would not go away however as they steadily brought the lead down to three over the next four minutes. The two teams would trade points until the 8:17 mark when Falvo hit a three to put the Thunderbirds up six.
Balwigaire added a jumper and Dylan Crist went one of two from the free throw line to put Mesa up nine.
Western played hard in the final minutes but couldn’t catch up as Mesa held on for a 62-57 victory. The men’s team handled the ball significantly better than their female counterparts did against the Matadors with just nine turnovers for the game. The good ball control was key in the victory as Mesa shot just 38.6 percent, was out rebounded 40-29 and made only 11 of their 20 free throws.
Balwigaire played all 40 minutes and led all scorers with 27 despite going just 9 of 23 from the field and ended up taking home ACCAC D1 player of the week honors. Mesa is now 8-13 on the year following their victory.
Of the game Balwigaire said ” feels good to get back to winning, and we hope to keep it going”.
