Pima Banks in 3-pointer to Beat Dawson and Remain Undefeated
With 0.7 seconds left on the clock, Max Majerle banked in a 30 footer to win the game for the Pima Community College Aztecs and keep them undefeated at 14-0 on the season. The Aztecs are currently ranked #6 in the country for NJCAA D2 teams. It was a battle of heavyweights in the Aztec Class as Dawson came in with a 13-1 record and Pima was 13-0. The game didn't disappoint. There were 15 ties and 27 lead changes. The final tie score came at 92-92 when Dawson's Jordan Jasper made a free throw to even it up. With six seconds left Pima ran down the court and Majerle was forced to throw it up under pressure, but the ball somehow found the bottom of the net after bouncing hard off the backboard. Dawson couldn't get off an attempt at the end.
"Little things make a big difference, and those things catch up with you at some point," commented Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "We haven't been rebounding up to our potential the past few games. That takes more toughness and effort than we've been giving. When you shoot in the 50's and 60's, it doesn't show up. When you shoot in the 40s, it becomes a lot more important. We also need to be better at learning and executing our scouting report so that we can take away other teams' strengths. If you manage to win, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. When you lose, that could've been the difference. In the short term, this loss really hurts. In the long run, it is going to make us better and get us ready for our conference schedule."
The ending of the first half was a foreshadowing of how the game would end. Dawson was up 40-39 with ten seconds remaining. Pima tried to get a look, but couldn't find any space until the last second when the ball got swung to Cohenj Gonzales who made a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Pima the 42-40 advantage. The Buccaneers didn't hang their heads though, as they came out of the locker room strong. Kur Maler connected on a jump shot to open the half and then Brandon Hymes made a breakaway layup. Justin Asi scored on the next two possessions to give Dawson a 48-42 lead. After a few more minutes, Kur Maler and Jordan Jasper both got drives to the basket to give Dawson their biggest lead of the game at 55-47. The game was far from over though as both teams delivered big punches back and forth. Dawson's last field goal came at 3:18 left when Jordan Jasper drove and finished in the paint. That bucket put Dawson up 90-88. On their next two possessions the Bucs missed a 3-pointer and then turned it over, failing to extend their lead. Maler made 1-2 from the free throw line on the next possession to give Dawson a 91-88 advantage. Pima went back down and scored inside to draw within a point. When Dawson got the ball back, they ran the clock down and got a good look from beyond the arc, but it didn't fall. Fortunately, the Aztecs knocked it out of bounds and Dawson had another chance. After a timeout, the Bucs couldn't find anyone open and got a five second call to give the ball back to Pima. The Dawson defense forced the hosts to take a tough shot that wasn't even close, but Pima got three offensive rebounds and eventually converted the final one to take the lead with 12.5 seconds left. Dawson's Jasper raced the ball down the court and drew a foul that sent him to the free throw line where he made the first and missed the second. That set up the final game winner from Majerle.
The Buccaneers allowed Pima to shoot 58% from the field in the second half and 52% for the game. Pima also outrebounded Dawson 45-39. The visitors did force 24 turnovers in the game. The Bucs had one of their poorer shooting nights in recent memory, only connecting on 47% from the field and 26% from the 3-point line.
It was a balanced scoring effort for Dawson with the five starters in double figures and Sam Massaquoi and Ade Onaleye came off the bench to contribute eight points. Kur Maler led the way with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Seth Amunrud also contributed 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals to go along with his 12 points. Wes Ball had a game high 27 points and 10 rebounds for Pima.
Dawson drops to 13-2 on the season and will be back in action at noon Monday against Central Arizona College in their final game of the Aztec Classic in Tucson, Arizona.
