For the 3rd consecutive year and the 7th time in 11 seasons, Phoenix College (27-5) has won the Region-I Division-II title with a big 84-65 victory Friday evening over Tohono O’odham Junior College. The win came at home in front of a sellout crowd. Phoenix College also won this year's ACCAC Conference title this season under head coach Matt Gordon and his staff.
It was the second consecutive year that Phoenix College faced Tohono O'Odham JC in the D-II championship game. Tohono O'Odham was seeking their first-ever Region-I Championship in just their 4th year of existence under terrific and passionate head coach Matt Vargas. Many fans from Vargas' program made the trip to Phoenix College to support their team.
Tohono would have the same test - slowing down ACCAC Conference Player of the Year Brandon Brown. Brown has been the top player in the conference all season long, and has absolutely destroyed the competition each night out this season. Brown was coming off a 37-point performance in his team's semi-final win over Scottsdale Junior College on Wednesday.
Assistant coaches Jim Shaw of Saint Mary's College, Chris Crevelone of Grand Canyon University and Lance Lavetter of Seattle University were each in attendance to watch the game amidst the big crowd of fans.
Brandon Brown would not disappoint as he would explode again for a game-high 40 points in the victory, including 25 big points in the game's first half.
With 3:50 remainning in the first half and Tohono O'Odham looking to remain close in the contest, Brown would make a nice stop-and-go move in traffic, then dish the basketball to 6-foot-7 freshman forward Anthony Tokpah for an impressive two-handed dunk in traffic. Brown would then score on a mid-range jumper to push Phoenix ahead 35 to 27.
Tohono would close out the first half strong though behind a floater in the lane from guard Nahjee Matlock, and then a transition layup from 6-foot-6 sophomore forward David Everage. Phoenix would hold on to a 39-36 halftime lead, behind Brown's strong first half of play.
In the second half, Tohono would quickly narrow the gap, after a three-pointer from Kyler Ashley - giving Tohono a narrow, 41-39 advantage over Phoenix. But Brown would come right back with a three-pointer to give Phoenix College back the lead.
Then 6-foot-5 freshman wing Russ Davis would explode on his own - knocking down numerous three-point attempts to blow the game wide open for Phoenix College. After 4-consecutive three-pointers from Russ Davis, which included a 25-foot three-pointer, Phoenix College would jump out to a comfortable 66-53 lead with 8 minutes remainning in the game.
Then Brown would close out the big championship win with two-consecutive three-pointers of his own, one of which also included a 25-foot three-pointer of his own as well. After Brown and Davis' exploits, Phoenix College would jump out to a 72-53 lead with 6 minutes left to play - crusing to the 84-65 win.
Brown would finish with his biggest game when it counted, 40 points, while Russ Davis would finish with 17 points. David Everage would lead Tohono with a team-high 23 points.
With the championship victory, Phoenix College has earned their third straight trip to Danville, Illinois - site of the 2015 NJCAA Division-II Men’s Basketball Championships in two weeks, where they will look to defend their national championship from last season, which was the first NJCAA Men’s Basketball national title ever won by an Arizona team.
The Bears will now wait to see who their first opponent will be in the NJCAA Division-II Men’s Basketball Championship, which will take place on Tuesday, March 17th, at Mary Miller Center at Danville Area Community College in Danville, Illinois. The Bears will make their 7th trip to the national tournament since Bears’ Men’s Head Basketball Coach Matt Gordon took over the program in 2004.
Congratulations to Phoenix College and head coach Matt Gordon and his staff on an amazing run, and also to head coach Matt Vargas and his staff on developing the Tohono O'Odham qquickly into one of the top programs in the conference.
