Mesa Basketball hosts Chandler-Gilbert for ACCAC contests on Wednesday night
Tuesday January 30, 2024 - 6:00 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger
MCC Basketball welcomes Chandler-Gilbert into Theo Heap Gymnasium for ACCAC battles on Wednesday night.
Women's Basketball:
No. 6 MCC comes into play on Wednesday with a 15-4 record (10-3 ACCAC). The Lady T-Birds are riding a season high seven game winning streak as they took down South Mountain on Saturday, 90-47.
Mesa was strong defensively against the Cougars forcing 24 turnovers and converting those takeaways into 30 points in the victory.
Ashiian Hunter led the way for MCC as she had 18 points. Aaliyah Garcia had a career night as she had nine points to go along with four rebounds and five assists.
Chandler-Gilbert comes into play on Wednesday with a 10-11 record (5-9 ACCAC). The Coyotes have won two of their last five games and are coming off a 68-46 victory against Glendale on Saturday.
Though the Coyotes were held to less than 10 points in the first and fourth quarters they had a strong second and third period in which they averaged 25 points which helped them build a lead the Gauchos weren't able to come back from.
This will be the second of three meetings between the two teams and the only one held at MCC. In their first meeting the Lady T-Birds came away with the 62-30 victory over the Coyotes.
After a slow first half MCC dominated the final 20 minutes of action, outscoring CGCC, 40-13 over the final two periods. Ashiian Hunter led Mesa in scoring as she hit four three-pointers tallying up 14 points in the win.
Men's Basketball:
MCC comes in with a 5-14 record (3-10 ACCAC) coming off of snapping a program long 10 game losing streak after picking up the 105-70 win over South Mountain. Mason Guiseppi and Orlando Gonzales had career nights in the win as Guiseppi had 28 points and Gonzales set a career mark in assists with nine.
MCC hit the century mark for the first time all season in the victory while shooting a season high from the floor (68.3%) and from deep (62.5%).
CGCC comes in ranked No. 14 in the country as they hold a 18-2 record (11-2 ACCAC). The Coyotes have won four of their last five with their loss coming at the hands of No. 18 Pima, 83-64. In their last win CGCC had three players with 15 or more points as they were led in scoring by Andre Harris who had 25 in the win.
This is the second of three meetings between the two teams and the only one to be played at MCC. In their first meeting the Coyotes snuck away with a 77-72 victory as MCC had an eight point lead with four minutes left but were outscored 14-2 in the remaining time. Orlando Gonzales had a career night as he had 29 points going 8-10 from deep.
The women's game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men will follow at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free to both games with the donation of a non-perishable food item.
Can't make the game? MCC Athletics has you covered, tune into T-Birds Sports Live to catch all the action!
