Kyle Isaacs head coach of the men’s basketball team at Arizona Western Community College and former Brownfield ISD student, plus the son of Tony & Giovanna led his team to win for the 21st time in program history, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 1 Championship Monday night winning over Cochise College of Douglas Arizona 73-62. Plus this was the Matadors’ 11th straight win. (Related story)
During the game, Cochise got out to an early lead, however, Evan Butts busted a three-pointer to cut the score to 8-7. The Matadors then tied the game at 13 a piece thanks to a pair of LJ Glover free throws before Evan Butts and Marquis Hargrove each knocked down two free throws to give a 6-0 run for the Matadors and a 17-13 lead.
The Matadors got out to a 10-point lead thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Lendeborg and Butts which put the Matadors up 29-19 before Cochise scored the final two points of the half, trimming the Matadors’ halftime lead to 29-21.
The Apaches used an early 10-4 run to start the second half, cutting the Matadors’ lead to 33-31 but Arizona Western answered with a 5-0 run to push the lead back to seven at 38-31. AJ Marmolejos scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and put the Matadors up 18 at 55-37 with a layup, giving Arizona Western its largest lead of the game. Cochise cut the Matadors’ lead to nine points but Arizona Western was able to keep the lead, capping off the game with a Lendeborg slam.
Next, Isaacs and the Matadors will travel to Salt Lake City Utah to take on Salt Lake Community College on Saturday night, March 11, 2023, for the NJCAA District 1 (West District) Championship for the Western Region of the United States.
According to the NJCAA, the winner of the District Championship receives an automatic bid to the Juco National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. If Isaacs’s team loses, they have a chance of making the tournament as one of the eight at-large bids. The NJCAA Division I Tournament will consist of 24 teams competing for a national title. The single-elimination seeded bracket is comprised of 16 district champions and eight at-large selections. The top-eight seeds receive first-round byes in the tournament.
