Mesa men lose by 3 to Central AZ
Matt Schaeffer
Fresh off a drudging of the Pima Community College Aztecs the Mesa Thunderbirds Men’s basketball team suffered its ninth loss of the season on Feb. 11 at the hands of the Central Arizona Vaqueros 54-51.
The Thunderbird (16-9) loss came down to the wire as a Jarrett Green buzzer beater from the corner failed to fall.
Mesa got out to an early lead but a pair of threes from the Vaqueros’ kept it close.
Central Arizona managed to knock down five three pointers in the half as the two teams headed to the locker room tied at 33.
Highlights for Mesa in the first half came from a crisp no look pass from Brendan Pineda resulting in two points and a monster block by Khalfuni Marks at the other end.
The Thunderbirds got out to a hot start after the break, hitting a three to break the tie.
Mesa showed a change in philosophy shooting eight times from beyond the arc, compared to none in the first, but missed the following seven .
Another bucket brought the Mesa lead to five but the Vaqueros ran off seven straight to take the lead.
MCC kept the game close, trailing by just one with 5:48 remaining.
Two straight scoreless minutes ticked off the clock before Arizona Central called a time out.
A jump ball on the next possession gave Mesa the ball, but a game saving block by Vaquero Center Ritchie Mundunde resulted in two transition points by D’Vonne Pickett Jr. giving Central Arizona a three point lead.
MCC fouled twice in the final 30 seconds and were given an opportunity to tie it when CAC missed two of their final three free throws but came up short.
Mesa’s shooting woes extended to inside the arc as well shooting just 27 percent on field goal attempts for the half.
The Vaqueros were able to force 17 turnovers compared to just nine of their own.
The game featured several athletic plays from Vaquero Lonnie Pearson, who finished with 10 points, including a crowd pleasing dunk but also missed a dunk attempt down the baseline.
T-Bird Christian Griggs-Williams led all scorers with 12 points but like the rest of his team shot under 50 percent from the field and the stripe
The Thunderbird men are currently 16-9 as of production heading into the last three games of the season.
With their 10-6 ACCAC record they are a lock for the playoffs, and looking very solid moving forward.
This will be MCC’s fourth trip to the playoffs under fiour -year tenured head coach Sam Ballard.
