SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. – Arizona Western Men's Basketball's (26-7) season ended on Saturday afternoon in the West District Championship Game, falling to Salt Lake (28-4) 80-67 at Bruin Arena.

Yaxel Lendeborg led all scorers, scoring 30 points, 24 coming in the second half, on 11-of-13 shooting while grabbing 14 rebounds for a double-double in the loss. Lendeborg's 30 points were one shy of his career-high 31.

The Matadors took an early 5-4 lead thanks to Marquis Hargrove who scored the Matadors' first five points of the game. Salt Lake used a 10-0 run to take a 16-7 lead and built a 31-16 lead late in the first half. The Matadors went on a 6-0 run to close the gap to nine points and trailed by 10 at the break, 32-22.

Hargrove finished as the Matadors' second-leading scorer with 11 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers in the loss.

The Bruins came out of the locker room and went on a 6-0 run to push the advantage to 38-22 and outscored the Matadors 22-12 over the first seven minutes of the half to take a 20-point lead at 54-34. Five straight points from Lendeborg cut the Salt Lake lead to 54-39. The Matadors were able to trim the deficit back down to 10 points at 66-56 but were unable to get any closer.

The Matadors finished the season with 26 wins for the second straight year and earned their 21^st Region I championship in program history.