CAC men pull away for 70-62 win

SIGNAL PEAK — Saturday's eight-point victory for the Central Arizona College men's basketball team was a blowout as far as the Vaqueros were concerned.

CAC held Pima to four field goals and 17 percent shooting in the second half to come away with a 70-62 win at the George Young Activity Center. It was the first time this season that one of the Vaqueros' Arizona Community College Athletic Conference games had not been decided by five points or fewer.

Central (10-6, 5-4 ACCAC) trailed by eight points with 11:44 remaining before outscoring the Aztecs 26-10 the rest of the way.

"We told our players that they need to look inside themselves," CAC coach Tramaine Aaron said. "We finally stopped letting (the Aztecs) do what they wanted to do and started playing solid defense."

Pima (9-8, 4-5) led 41-38 at halftime. After going up 36-32 on two free throws by Mike Nwabuzor with 3:54 to play, the Vaqueros went scoreless on eight consecutive possessions before JaQuan Johnson's second-chance basket ended the drought with six seconds left in the half.

CAC converted on two of its first three possessions of the second half, pulling within 43-42 on Josh Rideau's basket. Then came another dry spell during which the Vaqueros scored just once in 14 possessions.

Pima capitalized by taking its largest lead of 52-44. But after going 3 for 5 from the field to begin the second half, the Aztecs went 1 for 19 in the final 16:41.

Johnson's basket with 11:08 remaining ignited a 9-0 run. Following second-chance baskets by Karriem Simmons on back-to-back possessions, Trace Dimeff's basket with 8:42 left put CAC up 53-52 — the ninth lead change of the game.

Pima tied it for the third and last time on Damon Dubots' free throw with 8:20 to play, but the Vaqueros went ahead to stay at 55-53 when Derice Black scored on a goaltending call with 7:29 remaining.

"We made the adjustments to get back into the game and ultimately get the victory," Aaron said. "We had guys play solid minutes when we needed them. They stepped up when their number was called."

Johnson's basket with 5:02 left gave Central a 62-57 lead, and Dimeff's basket with 2:08 remaining extended it to 66-59.

Zach Evans made Pima's last field goal with 1:24 to play, reducing the margin to 66-62. The Aztecs went 0 for 3 from the field and committed two turnovers on their last four possessions.

"That was a great way to bounce back" from Wednesday night's 70-67 loss at Mesa, Aaron said. And with CAC's next three games also at home, "it was a good way to set the tone."

Johnson scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Simmons had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Nwabuzor finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Rounding out the scoring for the Vaqueros were Dimeff with eight points, Black with seven, Rideau with six, Sean Potter and Chad Miller with three apiece and Dashawn Shelton with two.

Justice Martion scored 18 points for Pima, which was held 28 points under its season average of 89.9. Kwintin Williams had 15 points and Jake Anastasi scored 10.

Central converted Pima's 26 turnovers into 18 points and shot 40 percent from the field, going 5 for 18 on three-pointers and 27 for 67 overall. The Vaqueros had 17 second-chance points and went 11 for 15 on free throws.

The Aztecs shot 34 percent, making 18 of 53 overall and 3 of 15 three-pointers. They went 23 for 33 from the line, had 13 second-chance points and scored nine points off CAC's 16 turnovers.