SMCC Men's Basketball Travels to Mesa CC for Regular Season Finale

PHOENIX --- 

The South Mountain Community College men's basketball team travels to Mesa Community College for the Cougars' ACCAC Division II regular-season finale on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Game No. 30

South Mountain CC (24-5, 13-4 ACCAC) vs. Mesa CC (13-12, 7-10 ACCAC)

February 28, 2026 | 4 P.M. MST | Mesa, AZ | Theo Heap Gymnasium

Media: CLICK HERE for the free live stream

Probable Starters:

South Mountain CC Projected Starters

G – Parker Escalante, 6-0, SO-RS, Mesa, AZ

G – Travis Vasquez, 6-3, FR-RS, Glendale, AZ

W – Jadden Jones, 6-2, FR, Glendale, AZ

W – Devone Pless, 6-5, FR, Chandler, AZ

F – Dylan Eaddy, 6-5, FR, Atlanta, GA

Mesa CC Projected Starters

G – Ziair Finch, 6-2, FR, Douglasville, GA

G – Denali McNeal, 6-2, FR, Litchfield Park, AZ

F – Ezias Steffen, 6-5, FR, Phoenix, AZ

F – Tyreek Dean, 6-5, SO, Leesville, LA

F – Kashar Benton, 6-9, SO, Chicago, IL

Up Next: Home vs. TBD (Region I Division II Playoffs) | Thursday, March 5 | 7:30 pm MST | Phoenix, AZ | The Cougar Den

Last Time Out

Freshman Devone Pless tipped in an inbounds with one second left to lift the South Mountain Community College men's basketball team to a 75-73 victory over Scottsdale CC on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the SMCC Gym. Pless finished with 13 points, freshman Travis Vasquez led the Cougars with 18 points, and sophomores Parker Escalante and Blake Carabio scored 12 points apiece on a victorious Sophomore Night at The Cougar Den.

CLICK HERE for the full recap and box score. 

The Coaches

Cory Hoff enters his first season at the helm of the Cougar program. Hoff takes over the program after serving the past two years as Associate Head Coach at New Mexico Military Institute, a NJCAA DI program located in Roswell, New Mexico. During Hoff's Career, his programs have achieved a NAIA DI National Championship, two Conference Tournament Championships, one Regular Season Championship, seven Playoff Appearances, 23 Top 25 wins, four All-Americans, 19 All-Conference awards and 14 professionals. Hoff is 2-0 against Mesa CC.

Dennis Coleman is 13-12 serving as Interim Head Coach at Mesa Community College with a 7-10 record in ACCAC play. Coleman is 0-2 against South Mountain CC.

Cougar Stat Leaders

Points: Blake Carabio (14.0 PPG), I'yar Shadowvine & Travis Vasquez (12.4 PPG)

Rebounds: Jadden Jones (7.3 RPG), Semajay James (6.5 RPG), Devone Pless (4.4 RPG)

Assists: Travis Vasquez (4.0 APG), I'yar Shadowvine (2.4 APG), Semajay James (2.2 APG)

Thunderbird Stat Leaders

Points: Tyreek Dean (14.7 PPG), Denali McNeal (14.6 PPG), Ezias Steffen (14.4 PPG)

Rebounds: Tyreek Dean (7.6 RPG), Kashar Benton (6.2 RPG), Mike Alexander (5.1 RPG)

Assists: Kaden Gollhuir (3.4 APG), Ezias Steffen (2.7 APG), Denali McNeal (2.4 APG)

Watch Live & Stats

Video webcasts for all of SMCC's home games are available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/southmountaincc/ on Game Day. Game Previews will be posted prior to game day & Game Recaps will be posted after the conclusion of each contest on www.SMCCCougars.com.

Tough Scheduling

SMCC MBB will play 18 conference games against ACCAC opponents, which is one of the toughest conferences in the country. Additionally, SMCC has scheduled five non-conference games against NJCAA DI opponents with College of Southern Nevada, Community Christian College (2x), Miles Community College and Yavapai College on the schedule.

ACCAC Play

The ACCAC DII is made up of 7 programs. Each team plays 18 conference games during the season. Last season saw Pima Community College take home the ACCAC Regular Season & Region 1 Championships. Chandler-Gilbert CC, Glendale CC and South Mountain CC joined them in qualifying for the Region 1 Playoffs.