Turnovers blunt Mesa effort in men's basketball loss to Phoenix, 71-60
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mesa Community College | 26 | 34 | 60 |
|
Phoenix College | 31 | 40 | 71 |
Phoenix College
| Game Statistics | Mesa Community College | Phoenix College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (23-45) | (27-54) |
| Field Goal % | 51.1% | 50.0% |
| Rebounds | 27 | 24 |
| Assists | 9 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 19 | 10 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 4 | 9 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 7 | 16 |
| Bench Pts | 9 | 15 |
PHOENIX, AZ - Digging themselves a first half hole with 11 turnovers, the Mesa men's basketball team fell to defending NJCAA Division II national champion Phoenix Wednesday night on the road, 71-60.
The T-Birds fell to the Bears for the first time since 2012 and suffered their first loss to a Division II team since the 2012-13 season. With the setback MCC is now 3-3 and 2-2 in ACCAC play while PC has a 7-2 mark and is 3-1 in the conference.
Mesa started well, building a 19-12 lead when Mitch Burnett (Fr., Phoenix, AZ/Central H.S.) scored on a put-back with 6:22 to go in the first half.
But the Bears went on a 19-7 run to finish the half with a 31-26 margin.
With Phoenix leading 39-32 early in the second half the Bears put on a 10-4 burst to build their margin to 49-36 and MCC never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
The T-Birds eventually committed 19 turnovers, seven more than their season average. That blunted a .511 shooting night from the floor which saw Mesa make 23 of 45 shots, although it was only 3-14 on three-pointers.
Burnett finished as the Thunderbirds' leading scorer with a season-high 16 points on 8-9 shooting from the floor. He was also co-leader in rebounding with Kyle Bingham (Fr., Mesa, AZ/Mountain View H.S.) with six apiece. Bingham scored 11. Khari Holloway (So., Jackson, Miss/Mountain Pointe (AZ) H.S.) added 12 points.
Brandon Brown paced PC with 25 points.
Mesa returns home Saturday to host Glendale at 4:00 p.m.