Mesa men claim improbable win at Glendale, 63-60
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mesa Community College | 23 | 40 | 63 |
|
Glendale Community College | 27 | 33 | 60 |
| Game Statistics | Mesa Community College | Glendale Community College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (26-55) | (17-48) |
| Field Goal % | 47.3% | 35.4% |
| Rebounds | 36 | 32 |
| Assists | 14 | 12 |
| Turnovers | 14 | 13 |
GLENDALE, AZ - Trailing virtually the entire game, with both point guards in dire foul trouble, and watching free throw attempts pile up on the wrong side of the board, the Mesa men somehow pulled out a thrilling, 63-60, win at Glendale Wednesday night.
After MCC grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first minute-and-a-half, and saw GCC equal the score on a three-pointer by Isaiah Lopez, the T-Birds never led again until Mitch Burnett (Fr., Phoenix, AZ/Central H.S.) scored with 57 seconds to play to lift Mesa (15-7, 12-4) to a 61-60 lead.
In between, MCC coach Sam Ballard had to juggle point guards and see the Gauchos (11-13, 6-10) parade to the foul line 34 times to just 11 for his squad until the final 14 seconds.
The most serious trouble came when Khari Holloway (So., Jackson, Miss/Mountain Pointe (AZ) H.S.) picked up two personals in less than four minutes, and then after sitting out much of the half, was whistled for his third at the 6:21 mark.
That left Johnathan Guarisco (Fr., Bullhead City, AZ/Mohave H.S) to man the key position, but he, too, drew his third foul in the closing minute of the half which saw MCC trailing, 27-23.
The margin became six points before anything happened in the second half when Glendale's Tanner Waldrip made two technical free throws after a bench technical was called on MCC in the finals seconds of the first half.
Holloway started the second half but drew his fourth foul at the 13:44 mark. Not two minutes later Guarisco was whistled for his fourth and eventually fouled out with 8:05 to play.
That may have forced Ballard to insert Holloway earlier than he planned with Mesa trailing, 51-46.
The T-Birds battled back to within one and finally pulled ahead on Burnett's timely basket.
MCC held the Gauchos scoreless over the final 1:46 and Gianni Dailey (So., Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's H.S.) hit both ends of a one-and-one with 14 seconds on the clock.
Jordan Pratt (Fr., Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain H.S.) and Kyle Bingham (Fr., Mesa, AZ/Mountain View H.S.) each scored 13 points and Andrew Jones (So., Portland, Ore/Westview H.S.) added ten.
MCC hosts South Mountain Saturday at 4:00 p.m.