by Yuma, AZ – The Mesa Thunderbirds raced out to a 13-2 lead minutes into Wednesday’s game at Arizona Western, but the Matadors would muster a second-half surge to steal a late win 73-69.
With the loss, Mesa falls to 4-13 overall and 2-10 in ACCAC play. With the victory, the AWC Matadors; who are currently receiving votes in the latest NJCAA DI Men’s Basketball Poll, improved to 19-3 overall and remain in first place in the ACCAC with a conference mark of 12-1.
It was a tale of two halves on Wednesday evening for the Thunderbirds. Mesa shot lights out in the first half, finishing 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the three-point arc. The T-Birds also shot an impressive 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. Mesa’s defense also played a big role in the impressive first half, limiting Arizona Western to 41% shooting from the field and 33% from beyond the three-point arc. At the half, Mesa led the Matadors 37-35.
In the second half, Arizona Western’s offense came to life, striking for 38 points on 42% shooting. The game was won on the free-throw line. AWC shot 14-for-20 in the second half, while Mesa made just three of their six attempts from the charity stripe. Mesa hung in until the very end and had their chances in the final minutes, but fell short.
In the loss, Mesa had two scorers finish in double-figures led by BJ Burries (Apache) who played in all but one minute of the game. Burries finished with a season-high 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting. He finished 8-of-9 from the free-throw line and also chimed in with two assists and two rebounds. Timmy Johnson added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
