Pima Community College sports

Pima at 32-0 sets program record for wins in a season while claiming second straight region title

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Pima’s basketball team set a program record with 32 wins in a season following Friday’s 80-73 win over Chandler-Gilbert in the NJCAA Region I, Division II tournament championship (Pima Athletics photo)

The unthinkable was taking place Friday night in the NJCAA Region I, Division II tournament championship at Pima’s West Aztec Gym.

Pima trailed Chandler-Gilbert almost midway through the second half, the latest point in a game the Aztecs were behind this season since Dec. 29 against NJCAA Division I power Glendive (Mont.) Dawson College (which is 28-3 right now).

Five consecutive points from ACCAC Player of the Year Cohenj Gonzales, including his first and only 3-pointer of the game, ignited Pima’s game-clinching 22-3 run in the 80-73 victory over Chandler-Gilbert in front of a near-capacity crowd.

The run turned a 45-42 deficit with 12:40 remaining to a 64-48 lead with 7:45 left.

“I think the nerves got the best of us in the first half and we finally settled down, started playing the Pima way, sharing the basketball,” Pima coach Brian Peabody said. “In the second half, we were really good.”

“Really good” translates to being 32-0 overall and eclipsing the program record for victories. The 2017-18 team that reached the NJCAA Division II championship game finished 31-5.

“It’s obviously a great achievement,” Peabody said of the 32-0 record. “I’m happy for our guys but we have more to do. When you coach, you don’t have any time to celebrate. We’re already working on film for the national tournament.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board tomorrow and work on the national tournament and see if we can make a run there.”

Pima, back-to-back region champions, will be the No. 1 seed as the top-ranked NJCAA Division II team in the nation when the bracket is revealed Tuesday. The tournament starts March 17 at Danville, Ill.

Incredible: More than 25 percent of Pima’s scoring against Chandler-Gilbert occurred in a critical 5-minute stretch in the middle of the second half when the Aztecs went on the 22-3 run. Pima finally found the scoring outburst it is known for under Peabody, leading the nation at 103.7 points a game.

They finally got the upper hand against a methodical Chandler-Gilbert team that likes to slow the tempo and operate a Princeton-style offense with multiple back cuts.

“When that 3 went in, it felt great; it turned up the energy, got the crowd going,” Gonzales said of his 3-pointer with 11:13 left that put Pima ahead for good at 47-45. “After that, we went on a little bit of a run and it, for sure, helped us get going and get that lead built up.”

Gonzales, who is making 41 percent of his 3-pointers this season, finished 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. He was 4 of 6 inside the 3-point line, however, and finished with 13 points, three assists and two steals.

“He was struggling and the nerves got the best of Cohenj for a little bit, but he’s my favorite player maybe that I’ve ever coached,” Peabody said. “We’re going to go with him through thick and thin. … He came through and delivered when he needed to.”

Peabody also gave high praise to sophomore forward Gabe Oldham, who kept Pima afloat in the first half making all five of his shots from the field for 10 points. The Aztecs clung to a 34-32 halftime lead.

Oldham was chosen the NJCAA Region I Division II tournament MVP after finishing with 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field with 10 rebounds.

“He’s the reason we’re here,” Peabody said. “He’s the best leader I’ve ever coached in 33 years. He was unbelievable on the sideline and on the floor with our guys. It was really fun to see.”

Oldham, an All-ACCAC Division II first-team selection, embodies 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds of toughness.

The Spanish Fork, Utah native exhibited his strength with four 3-point plays in the second half in which he received a pass in traffic and used his physical will to score before making the free throw. He converted two of the 3-point plays in Pima’s 22-3 run.

Oldham also converted a 3-point play as part of Pima’s six straight points after Chandler-Gilbert built a 42-36 lead early in the second half.

“In a game like this where shots aren’t falling, the presence inside, me and (Marana grad) Wes (Ball), that’s where it matters,” Oldham said. “I’m just grateful my teammates were able to get me good passes.

“There’s nothing I was doing; they were able to find me in the open windows and I was able to capitalize on their good passes.”

Pima knows how to find ways to win even though the Aztecs were not challenged late in games through most of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCCAC) Division II schedule en route to an 18-0 record.

Pima ran the table against conference opponents by an average margin of victory of 31.1 points.

The Aztecs can win that way. They can also win when faced with a challenge late in a game as they did Friday night against Chandler-Gilbert and in the win over Dawson, which is No. 22 in the NJCAA Division I rankings.

Pima rallied from a 91-88 deficit with less than 3 minutes remaining against Dawson at West Aztec Gym 10 weeks ago and won 95-92 on a last-second 3-pointer by Max Majerle.

“We haven’t had a game like this all season (in the conference games),” Majerle said of the victory over Chandler-Gilbert. “Them coming out hard helped us a lot. This is something that we needed going into the national tournament because it helped us face adversity today.

“I think that’s something we’re really good at, team-bonding together. I think this game is great for us. It really helped.”

Majerle, who finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, also made a crucial 3-pointer that turned the tide against Chandler-Gilbert.

Majerle made 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc and the biggest of them all was with 3:33 remaining after Chandler-Gilbert went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 69-62.

The shot put Pima back ahead by double digits and prompted Majerle’s dad — Phoenix Suns great Dan Majerle — to stand, cheer and yell encouragement to his son.

“It’s really cool to see my dad excited and jumping up and down,” the younger Majerle said. “He’s usually a really mellow guy during games and hides in the corner. Seeing that it gets him pumped up is a big compliment towards me and shows how much he cares about me.”

Pima is the top-rated team in the nation because of its guard play with Gonzales, Max Majerle and former Baboquivari standout Kota Benson (15 points on Friday night), mixed with physically reliable Oldham and Ball inside and productive reserve role players such as freshmen Mason Hunt and Isaac Johnson.

That seven-player rotation has proven to be the best in the nation to this point.

Unbeaten regular-season and No. 1 ranking: complete..

ACCAC Division II regular-season title: complete.

NJCAA Region I, Division II tournament championship: complete.

NJCAA Division II national title: objective at hand.

“We’ve just got to stay together as a team,” Gonzales said. “We have to stay composed. If we ever get down like we did today, we know that we’ve just got to stay together as a team and we’ll fight our way back together.”

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

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