Gabe Oldham scored a game-high 21 points with 14 rebounds and reserve Mason Hunt added 20 points and eight rebounds in No. 1 Pima’s 99-66 victory Tuesday over No. 16 SUNY Niagara in the first round of the NJCAA Division II national tournament at Danville, Ill.
The Aztecs, who improved to 33-0 with the victory, will next play No. 8 Davidson County (N.C.) Davidson-Davie (30-3) at 3 p.m., Tucson time, in the quarterfinal round Thursday.
Davidson-Davie defeated No. 9 Florida State College at Jacksonville 75-69 in another first round game Tuesday.
“All of us had a chip on our shoulder from last year (when Pima lost 78-54 in the first round against Des Moines, Iowa, Area College),” Oldham said in a Pima press release. “Especially in these big-time games, you can’t come out nervous or scared, you’ve got to come out and set the tone,
“I was feeding off everyone else … they were giving me good passes and I was able to finish them. That’s what snowballed it off the (start).”
Oldham and Hunt were two of five players who scored in double figures Tuesday for the high-scoring Aztecs, who lead the nation averaging 102.9 points a game.
Cohenj Gonzales had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Marana graduate Wes Ball finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Max Majerle had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Hunt made 7 of 14 shots from 3-point range and 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
“I was nervous for sure but when I’m nervous I think I play a little better,” Hunt said in the Pima press release about his first-game experience at the NJCAA Division II national tournament. “I think I kicked the nerves during warmups. Once I got my hands on a ball and saw some shots fall, I felt like I was good from there.”
Pima outrebounded SUNY Niagara 62-43. The Aztecs outscored the Thunderwolves 52-24 in points in the paint and 26-12 in second-chance points.
Pima scored the game’s first seven points — all from Oldham — and never trailed.
An 11-0 run enabled Pima to build a 32-16 lead with 9:35, when Ball capped the surge with a 3-pointer.
Gonzales also made two 3-pointers in that run.
Pima held a double-digit lead thereafter.
The Aztecs led 58-37 at halftime behind 15 points and seven rebounds by Oldham and 11 points and nine rebounds from Ball.
SUNY Niagara cut the lead to 67-52 with 11:27 remaining, but Pima responded with a 22-2 run to pull away for good.
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