SIGNAL PEAK — The opportunity to reach the postseason remains alive by a thread for the Central Arizona College men's basketball team despite Wednesday night's 85-77 loss to Phoenix at the George Young Activity Center.

Because of Arizona Western's 75-71 loss to Glendale, the Vaqueros stayed two games behind the Matadors in the race for the fourth and final berth in the Division I Region 1 tournament. Central and Western both have two games left in the regular season.

The Vaqueros made a gallant bid to overcome a 16-point deficit against the Bears, reducing the margin to four points twice in the final 1:39. Phoenix secured the win by outscoring Central 8-4 down the stretch.

The loss was the third straight for the Vaqueros, who fell to 13-15 overall and 8-12 in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.

"To be honest, I think the pressure of having to win kind of got to us," CAC coach Tramaine Aaron said. "We got away from the small things, the minor details, which would have helped us be successful."

The Vaqueros dug themselves into a huge hole during the early minutes of the second half. Down 41-36 at halftime, Central went just 1 for 5 from the field with four turnovers on its first nine possessions.

The Division II Bears (18-10, 12-8 ACCAC) took advantage with a 14-3 run that extended their lead to 55-39 with 15:27 remaining. Phoenix went 6 for 11 from the field during that stretch.

The Vaqueros committed seven second-half turnovers that the Bears converted into 10 points.

"We were careless with the ball and that hurt us," Aaron said.

Central was able to creep back into contention despite its shortcomings.

Ryan Pate's 3-pointer with 9:54 left made it 62-54. A second-chance basket by Brenton Woods with 6:58 remaining trimmed Phoenix's lead to 67-60. JC Canahuate's three-point play on a second-chance opportunity pulled CAC within 73-67.

Woods knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:39 left to make it 75-71. After the Bears answered with a runner by Treyvon McCray, Jalen Menzies hit a pair of free throws with 53.7 seconds remaining.

Shemar Wilson's dunk with 46.9 seconds left extended the Phoenix lead to 79-73, and the Bears went 6 for 6 from the line on their next three possessions to seal it.

Canahuate led the Vaqueros with 25 points. He had played just one minute total in the previous seven games due to an abdominal strain. Woods finished with 18 points.

Lemar Mitchell scored 22 points, McCray had 20 and Wilson scored 14 for the Bears.