YUMA, Ariz. – The Arizona Western Matadors Men's Basketball team (11-4, 4-1) had a career night from AJ Marmolejos who scored 35 points but it wasn't enough to shake off a slow start in a 91-83 loss to Cochise (7-5, 1-3) on Wednesday night at the House Gymnasium.

Marmolejos scored 35 points on 9-19 shooting, hitting a pair of three-pointers and going 15-for-16 from the line in the loss.

The Matadors were held to nine points in the first 10 minutes of the game and were outscored 52-29 in the first half. Arizona Western came out hot in the second half, opening the second frame on a 13-0 run, capped off by a Marmolejos free throw. The Matadors cut the deficit to eight on a three-pointer hit by Marmolejos and then eventually trimmed the deficit to five points at 78-73 with 3:01 left before the Apaches pulled away.

Cam Atkinson finished the game with 10 points, the only other Matador to end the game in double-figures, going 2-for-3 from the three-point line. Both Edwin Suarez and Matija Gledic ended the night with eight points.

The Matadors are back in action on Thursday, December 14, hosting Cochise once again at 7:30 pm.