The Yuma Criminals put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They snuck past Kofa with a 56-52 victory. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 13 more assists than your opponent, as Yuma did.
Leading Yuma to victory were Max Pacheco and Nick Amador. Pacheco scored 16 points along with five rebounds and three steals, while Amador scored 26 points along with eight assists and seven rebounds. Those 16 points set a new season-high mark for Pacheco. Another player making a difference was Andrew Mosqueda, who scored six points.
Despite the loss, Kofa still got an impressive performance from Calvin Barber, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. The match was Barber's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Elijah Braveheart was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with 13 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Kofa were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Yuma's win ended a three-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 5-0. As for Kofa, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Yuma will challenge Gila Ridge at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Kofa, they will head out on the road to face off against San Luis at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. San Luis is out to stop a three-game streak of losses at home.
