YUMA, Ariz. – The Arizona Western Matadors Men's Basketball team (15-7, 8-4) used a big second half to open the weekend with a 79-60 win over Yavapai (11-12, 5-8) on Friday evening at the House Gymnasium.

AJ Marmolejos led five Matadors in double-figures, scoring 19 points to help the Matadors win their second consecutive game.

After the teams split the first 14 points of the game, the Matadors went on a 12-2 run, taking a 19-9 lead on a Glover putback slam. Arizona Western opened the lead to 30-17 but Yavapai went on a 7-0 run to cut the Matadors' lead to 30-24. The Roughriders got to within three points at 35-32 but the Matadors took a 37-32 lead into the locker room.

The Matadors scored 13 of the first 19 points to open the second half to take a 50-38 lead on a Jannoy Thomas three-point play. Marmolejos built the lead up to 22 at 63-41 with a four-point play as the Matadors outscored the Roughriders 42-28 in the second half.

Thomas, along with Matija Gledic, finished as the Matadors' second-leading scorers, scoring 15 points and Edwin Suarez scored 13 points while grabbing nine rebounds off the bench. LaRoi Glover ended the night with 10 points.

The Matadors are back home on Saturday afternoon, hosting Yavapai at 4:00 pm at the House Gymnasium  Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for seniors while Arizona Western College students get in free with their AWC ID.