Pima College’s third-seeded men’s basketball team was stunned by Cecil College Tuesday morning at the NJCAA National Tournament in Danville, Illinois. The Aztecs’ women fared better, earning a two-point win at their own tournament in Harrison, Arkansas.
The men’s 81-72 loss was a stunner for the defending NJCAA runners-up. The Aztecs trailed 31-29 at the break, then zoomed ahead to a 44-39 lead when Kennedy Koehler scored with 13:32 left. Koehler’s 3-pointer with 7:01 left made it 60-53. Cecil took the lead on Shylie Ringgold’s basket with 3:38 left, and never trailed again.
Koehler finished with a team-high 22 points, and Jordan Robinson added 18.
The sixth-seeded Pima women rallied to beat 11th-seeded Lake Michigan College 81-79. Pima advances to the second-round game, which will be played Wednesday against third-seeded Kansas City (Kansas) Community College; the game tips off at 4 p.m. Tucson time.
The Aztecs led by three with 44 seconds left to play when they turned the ball over. Lake Michigan College missed a 3-pointer that would’ve given it the lead, and Pima’s Haile Gleason grabbed the rebound. She was fouled, then hit both free throws to make it 81-76.
The Red Hawks hit a 3-pointer with 14.5 seconds remaining, cutting Pima’s lead to two points. The Aztecs turned the ball over as they tried to inbound it, and Lake Michigan College had a chance to win the game with a 3. The shot missed, and the Aztecs advance.
“They had some jitters, obviously,” Pima coach Todd Holthaus said.
Pima rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter behind Shauna Bribiescas, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the final period. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. JJ Nakai scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
“We trailed behind the whole game but in the fourth quarter we started playing together, moving the ball, getting it inside, pounding it and making free throws. We withstood their pressure and got the win,” Bribiescas said. “I had an advantage with my speed inside.”
