Comeback falls short as men fall to South Mountain, 69-66
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
South Mountain Community College (15-10, 9-8) | 37 | 32 | 69 |
|
Mesa Community College (15-8, 12-5) | 28 | 38 | 66 |
South Mountain Community College
| Game Statistics | South Mountain Community College | Mesa Community College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (24-59) | (21-54) |
| Field Goal % | 40.7% | 38.9% |
| Rebounds | 33 | 33 |
| Assists | 13 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 13 | 18 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 20 | 9 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 13 | 12 |
| Pts in the Paint | 32 | 24 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 12 | 2 |
| Bench Pts | 12 | 15 |
MESA, AZ - Down 18 points in the second half, the Mesa men closed to with one, but could not complete the comeback, falling, 69-66, to South Mountain (15-10, 9-8) at Theo Heap Gym Saturday.
Despite the loss MCC (15-8, 12-5) maintains its two-game lead in ACCAC Division I with Cochise falling to Pima, 91-68.
Trailing by nine at halftime, the T-Birds quickly dug an even deeper hole, falling 18 behind in less than three and a half minutes of the second half, 48-30.
Still down 50-32 with 11:37 to play Mesa mounted a comeback as it has so often in the second half this season. The Thunderbirds have come from a halftime deficit to win six times. A 14-3 run was highlighted by three-pointers by Jordan Pratt (Fr., Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain H.S.), Charles Wardell (So., Milwaukee, Wisc/Northwest Secondary H.S.) and two by Khari Holloway (So., Jackson, Miss/Mountain Pointe (AZ) H.S.).
That sliced the deficit to 50-44 with 10:01 to go.
The T-Birds continued to chip away until they were within one, 63-62 on a drive by Holloway with 3:10 remaining.
At that point, however, MCC drew its second technical of the night. Even though Kevin Kelly made just one of the free throws, Monnard Brown made both halves of the one-and-one that preceded the technical.
Holloway made two foul shots with 1:58 to play, but Kelly answered with two of his own with 1:44 on the clock.
Holloway trimmed the deficit back to two, 68-66 with a floater at the 1:28 mark, but MCC was unable to score the rest of the way.
Holloway finished with 26 points and Gianni Dailey (So., Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's H.S.) added ten. Kelly scored 20 for SMCC.
Mesa goes back on the road Wednesday, traveling to Tucson to meet Pima in a 7:30 p.m. contest.