Gabe Oldham goes for 22 points, 11 rebounds but late 11-2 run hurts Men's Basketball at Arizona Western College

The Pima Community College men's basketball team (14-3, 6-3 in ACCAC) dropped its second straight game on Saturday in an ACCAC conference matchup at Arizona Western College (14-5, 7-2).

• The No. 12 ranked Aztecs (Division II) trailed for much of the game and fell to the Matadors (Division I) 97-88.
• Down 80-78 with 4:26 left, the Aztecs gave up an 11-2 run in three and half minutes as Arizona Western took a 91-80 advantage with 55.3 seconds left. The Aztecs got two points off free throws during that stretch. Freshman Cohenj Gonzales (Mesquite HS) converted on a three-point play to cut it to 93-86 but the Matadors went 6 for 6 from the foul line in the final 34.5 seconds.
• The Aztecs came out of a time trailing 59-52 with 14:39 left. Gonzales scored a basket on the ensuing possession and freshman Kota Benson (Mesa HS) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give the Aztecs a 60-59 lead with 13:07 remaining. Pima would take one more lead off sophomore Dillan Baker's (Salpointe Catholic HS) score to put it at 62-61, but the Matadors countered with an 8-0 run in two minutes to take it back at 69-62 with 10:34 left. The Aztecs got as close as one point at 71-70 but could not tie or take the lead.
• The Matadors had an 11-2 run in the first half to take their biggest lead of the game at 35-23. Trailing 38-27, the Aztecs put together an 11-2 run of their own as freshman Gabe Oldham scored on back-to-back possessions, Baker had four points and Benson hit three free throws to cut it to 40-38. Pima trailed 43-40 at halftime.
• Oldham finished with a double-double and team-highs of 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. He was 10 for 12 from the field.
• Baker added 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
• Sophomore Moses Demalek went 6 for 8 shooting and finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists. Gonzales also added 13 points as well as three assists and two rebounds.
• Benson netted 13 points off the bench as he was 3 for 5 from three-point range. He also had three rebounds and two assists.

The Aztecs will hit the road next Saturday when they play at Mesa Community College. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.

PCC    40   48   88
AWC  43   54   97