Matadors advance to Region I title game with win over Eastern Arizona

YUMA – Yaxel Lendeborg and Marquis Hargrove provided a one-two punch, combining for 54 points to help Arizona Western Men’s Basketball (25-6) beat Eastern Arizona (21-10) 90-82 in the Region I Semi-final on Saturday night at the House Gymnasium.

Lendeborg led all scorers with a career-high 31 points while grabbing 14 rebounds to record his sixth consecutive double-double.

The Matadors outscored the Gila Monsters 33-20 over the final 10 minutes of the game as Hargrove scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half to fuel the run.

Eastern Arizona jumped out to an early 7-2 lead but Lendeborg put together a 5-0 run of his own to tie the game, scoring the first seven points for the Matadors. With the Matadors trailing 12-11, Hargrove buried a three and the Matadors went on a 5-0 run to take a 16-12 advantage. The teams went back and forth late in the half and Amatado gave the Matadors a four-point lead at the break with a three before the halftime buzzer, putting the Matadors in front 36-32.

Amato finished the game with nine points, going 2-for-2 from the three-point line playing in 28 minutes off the bench.

Eastern opened the second half on a 5-0 run to take a 37-36 lead and kept in front of the Matadors for most of the first 10 minutes of the half. With the Matadors trailing 62-57 with under 10 minutes to play, the Matadors went on a 9-0 run, capped off by a Hargrove three-pointer to put the Matadors up 66-62. The Matadors opened up a 71-64 lead and never looked back to beat the Gila Monsters in the Region I Semi-final for the second consecutive year.

AJ Marmolejos scored 12 points off the bench while Matija Gledic added six points as part of a bench unit that combined for 27 points.

The Matadors will hit the road on Monday, March 7, heading to Douglas, Ariz., to take on Cochise in the Region I Championship Game at Cochise College at 7:00 pm.