Mesa's Kyle Fischer sank the game winning shot to help the T-Birds defeat the North Idaho Cardinals, 69-68, in the first round of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout.
Mesa's Kyle Fischer sank the game winning shot to help the T-Birds defeat the North Idaho Cardinals, 69-68, in the first round of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout.
Posted: Dec 27, 2018

Kyle Fischer Sinks Game Winner with 7 Seconds to Defeat North Idaho College, 69-68, in the Opening Round of Fiesta Bowl Shootout

North Idaho College
68
AT
Mesa Community College
69
Game Leaders
North Idaho College
Pts: Nate Pryor - 19
Reb: RayQuan Evans - 8
Ast: Nate Pryor - 5
Mesa Community College
Pts: Rajhan Billingsley - 23
Reb: Kyle Fischer - 6
Ast: Elijah Moore - 4
Team Stats
Full stats
North Idaho College
68
AT
Mesa Community College
69
Game Leaders
North Idaho College
Pts: Nate Pryor - 19
Reb: RayQuan Evans - 8
Ast: Nate Pryor - 5
Mesa Community College
Pts: Rajhan Billingsley - 23
Reb: Kyle Fischer - 6
Ast: Elijah Moore - 4
Team Stats
Full stats

Mesa, AZ - In the first round of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout, the Mesa Thunderbirds defeated the North Idaho College Cardinals, on a go-ahead jump shot from Kyle Fischer with seven seconds remaining on the clock, to win 69-68.

The T-Birds were excited to win but winning in the final moments wasn't in Mesa Head Coach Sam Ballards game plans, especially when Mesa held a 14 point lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game.  The T-Birds scored its 60th point at the 10:11 mark of the second half and didn't score again till the 3:09 mark when Nik Nehls made a three-pointer to break a 60-60 tie.

Not only was it a Nehls three pointer that helped Mesa but he then connected on two free-throws to go along with a Rajhan Billingsly layup that put Mesa up 67-60 with 2:32 to play in the game.  The Cardinals however went on an 8-0 run, taking the lead for the first time all half, 68-67, with 32 seconds to play.

That is when Kyle Fischer made his way to the left side of the key and connected with a seven foot tear drop to give Mesa its final tally of the night.

Leading all scorers on the night was Rajhan Billingsly, who connected for 23 points, shooting 8-16 on the night.  Jeff Perez also scored in the double-figures, pouring in 11.  Overall, Mesa shot 41.9 (26-62) percent from the field, hitting nine three-pointers and making eight of nine free-throws (88.9%).

With the win, Mesa moves into the winners bracket and will play the winner of Snow College and Seward County at 6 pm Friday night.  Continue to check the mesatbirdsports.com website for the further updates to game times and scores.