Men's basketball takes blowout regional title game in 2014
In normal situations regional championship events would be close, hard-fought affairs. That certainly was not the case in the Region I, Division I men's basketball final of 2014.
Mesa entered the game as the number one seed and won the semi-final, played at Theo Heap Gym, over Cochise, 75-66. That set up the title game against second-seeded Arizona Western, which had handed the T-Birds two of their only four losses during the regular season.
MCC was ranked No. 22 in the nation with a 25-4 record and the Matadors had a 25-6 record of their own, setting up what was expected to be a thrilling battle. It didn't turn out that way.
The game lived up to its billing during the early part of the first half, producing six lead changes and three ties until the 12:26 mark of the opening period when Sami Bzai connected on a three-pointer to give Mesa a 22-19 lead it would never relinquish.
Bzai's shot ignited a four-minute, 17-2 run by the T-Birds and by halftime MCC had a solid, 55-34, margin, having shot a sizzling .586 from the floor and making seven of 11 three-pointers.
But Mesa wasn't content against a dangerous AZW squad. With the lead hovering near the 20-point mark for the first eight minutes of the second half, the T-Birds ran off 13 unanswered points to grab an 81-48 margin with 10:48 to play. From there the lead mushroomed to the final margin, 108-63.
MCC had six players in double figures led by Tre Ogles with 21. Bzai added 19, while Cam Boone collected 15, Kyle Tomlinson 13, Ryan Hintze 12 and Shy McClellan 11.
The T-Birds dominated the boards, 44-23, with Boone grabbing 11, and made 13 of 25 three-pointers.
Many years that would have been Mesa's ticket to the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., but not this time. MCC had to face a District championship game, which was set for Salt Lake City. Trailing Salt Lake, 32-30, at halftime, the T-Birds got off to a slow start in the second half, quickly falling behind by ten points, and lost, 75-59.
Still, there was a slight hope. Four at-large bids to the national tournament were available, but Mesa was not chosen.
But there will always be the memory of that staggering regional championship victory.
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