The No. 1 Pima Community College men’s basketball team suffered its first defeat of the season on Friday in the NJCAA Division II national tournament semifinal round in a 95-74 loss to No. 4 Champaign (Ill.) Parkland at Danville, Ill.
The Aztecs are 34-1 heading into their third-place matchup on Saturday at 3 p.m. against No. 7 Kalamazoo (Mich.) Valley (31-3).
Pima sophomore Max Majerle drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 58-52 with 11:34 left in the game but the Cobras went on a 9-0 run with three straight 3-pointers to retake a double-digit lead.
The Aztecs cut it to a single-digit deficit once more at 79-70 when freshman Isaac Johnson scored on a layup with four minutes left. Parkland outscored the Aztecs 16-4 the rest of the way.
The Cobras hit their first five shots of the game and took a 26-8 lead halfway into the first half. The Aztecs trailed by double digits for most of the half, but freshman Mason Hunt hit two 3-pointers and sophomore Cohenj Gonzales drained one as they trailed 39-29 with 3:16 left. The Cobras converted on a 3-point play on their next possession to make it 42-29.
The Aztecs closed out the first half with a 9-2 run to build momentum as they trailed 44-38 at halftime.
Sophomore Wes Ball of Marana scored five points during that stretch and sophomore Gabe Oldham scored at the buzzer to end the half.
“We’ll just try to get them to regroup, get a win tomorrow and end this season on a winning note,” Pima head coach Brian Peabody told PCCTV. “They certainly deserve that with what they’ve accomplished this whole year,”
The Aztecs were able to get as close as four points after back-to-back baskets from Ball and Oldham to make it 49-45 in the early minutes of the second half, but could not get any closer.
The Cobras shot 54.5 percent (12 for 22) from 3-point range and 53.5 percent from the field (38 for 71). The Aztecs shot 37 percent (28 for 75) from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc (9 for 26).
Gonzales scored a team-high 21 points to go with three assists and two rebounds.
Ball and Oldham each finished with double-doubles in points and rebounds. Ball posted 17 points and 11 rebounds. He went 8 for 14 from the field. Oldham had 12 points and 14 rebounds as well as five assists and two blocks.
Hunt scored 10 points and had six rebounds off the bench. Sophomore Kota Benson contributed with nine points, three assists and two rebounds.
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