AWC men's, women's basketball previews
Mesa at (11) Arizona Western
Time: 5:30 p.m. today, The House
Media: 560-AM KBLU; www.azwestern.edu/athletics
Last game: The Matadors defeated Eastern Arizona 63-55; The Thunderbirds topped Glendale 84-46.
Records: AWC (19-2 overall, 11-1 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Mesa (15-5 overall, 8-3 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Lisette Longomo has continued to improve for the Matadors all season and racked up 25 points in their last game. Jade Washington averaged 17 points, five steals and five and half rebounds last week, proving to be a threat on both sides of the ball for AWC. ... Alli Gloyd picked up a double-double for the Thunderbirds in their last game, picking up 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. She is second in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.1 points a game. Gloyd is also sixth in the conference rebounding, averaging 9.2 a game. Kalasia Green is also coming off a stellar performance for Mesa, as she was able to score 20 points against Glendale.
The lowdown: This game is going to be a dogfight. Both teams are red hot right now — the T-birds have won six straight, while the Matadors are on an eight-game winning streak of their own. AWC is also a perfect 9-0 on the season at home. Matador coach Patrick Cunningham was not satisfied by his team’s performance despite the win over Eastern Arizona. The Mats went scoreless in the last five minutes of the first half and fizzled out in the final six minutes of the second half — something they cannot afford to do against this Mesa team. The T-birds have only allowed one team — Central Arizona — to score more than 60 points on them all season. If the Matadors want to be successful tonight, they need to find a way to put the pressure on early and keep it up for the entire game.
Mesa Men at Arizona Western
Time: 7:30 p.m., today, The House
Media: 560-AM KBLU; www.azwestern.edu/athletics
Last game: The Matadors fell to Eastern Arizona 81-77; The Thunderbirds lost to Glendale 69-60.
Records: AWC (17-5 overall, 8-4 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Mesa (13-7 overall, 7-4 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Lester Medford was electric in the second half against Eastern Arizona, scoring 23 of his game-high 29 points in that half. Medford leads the Matadors, averaging 18 points per game — which is third in the ACCAC. Renan Lenz picked up 24 points and three blocks in the Mats last game and continues to lead the ACCAC in blocked shots. He is averaging two and a half a game. ... Asaad Woods is the T-birds leading scorer, but Mesa seems to more about the team than the individual. It’s difficult to pinpoint one player to be on the lookout for, seeing as Mesa as a whole averages just over 80 points a game.
The lowdown: Both teams are coming off tough losses and are looking to rebound tonight. The Matadors defense will have their hands full with the balanced Mesa offense. But, AWC is still awaiting a comeback victory – meaning that even if the Matadors trail early, don’t count them out of the game. The heartbreaking win to Eastern Arizona is still fresh in the Matadors minds and should fuel their performance tonight. The key to this game is defense. Both teams are averaging about the same amount of offense each game, but it will come to who has the better defense to keep their opponent away from the basket.
— Erin Redmond
