Arizona Western advanced to the men's basketball Region I championship game with a 77-60 win over Central Arizona Wednesday night in Yuma.
The Matadors will now travel to top-seeded Cochise for the championship contest Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
AZW jumped in front by nine points at halftime, 34-25, and never looked back.
Any rustiness from not having played since March 16 was not obvious from Western's shooting. They hit better than 50 percent from the floor (30-59) including 12-25 (.480) on three pointers.
AZW got big contributions from the bench. Najeb Muhammad scored 20 points, scorching the nets with 10-12 shooting including a perfect 6-6 on threes. Yaxel Lendeborg also came off the bench to score 10, making all five of his shots. while starter Leo Gerardo added 16.
Brenton Woods paced CAC with 17 points. Ryan Pate added 15 and Noah Self 12.
