Cochise clinches ACCAC title with 74-60 win at Central Arizona College
SIGNAL PEAK, Ariz. —The Cochise College Apaches used a strong second-half performance to defeat the Central Arizona College Vaqueros on their home court last night. The win, coupled with the Scottsdale CC loss last night allowed the Apaches to clinch the 2022-23 ACCAC regular season championship outright. This will be the Apaches' 5th ACCAC title in the last 5 years.
Cochise led 32-30 at halftime, but then came out to start the second half on a 25-0 run to push the lead to 57-30. Cochise was able to then cruise to a double-digit win on way to their 22nd straight win of the season. Sophomore, Tyreese Watson led Cochise with 22 points on the night, while Sophomore big man Oscar Cluff added 19 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double.
Cochise, ranked #14 in the NJCAA poll and #9 in the JucoAdvocate National Media poll, is now 24-2 overall and 18-0 in ACCAC play.
In His Words…
Cochise Head Coach Jerry Carrillo
"First and foremost a huge thank you and congrats to our team and our assistant coaching staff for winning another ACCAC title. Coach Hop just works his tail off as an "on site" day-to-day coach and the work shows. Our guys have dealt very well with some odd adversity this season and have welcomed the challenge by honoring the process on a daily. Last night we really came out and played very well to start the second half to go on a 25-0 run. We defended and shared the ball very well; it's a 5 Peat".
News and Notes…
Cochise has extended its winning streak to 22 games dating back to November 19 when they lost to then #2 ranked Odessa College at Odessa. The Apaches have also extended their ACCAC road winning streak to 23 games, dating back to January of 2021. Cochise is ranked as high as 8th in the nation in the Massey College index and as low as 14th in the NJCAA poll. This will be the last year of a true ACCAC champion as next season the round-robin format will be eliminated.
Up Next…
The Apaches end their 4-game road trip with a 2pm Tip –off this Saturday at Chandler Gilbert CC.