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Yuma, Arizona – March 2, 2007 – Friday’s basketball action in ACCAC men’s and women’s regular season finales finally determined the conference’s muddled men’s playoff picture, and decided the women’s 3^rd and final playoff seed.  Despite soundly defeating Central Arizona Friday, 98-64, the AWC Men’s Basketball team found out shortly following the conclusion of their game that due to lost tiebreakers, they finished in a first-place tie with Eastern Arizona for the regular season title but dropped to the #2 seed, thus losing the chance to host the Region I Finals on Saturday, March 10^th; and the AWC Women’s Basketball team-by virtue of their 72-48 loss at home to 6^th-ranked Central Arizona Friday night-were officially eliminated from playoff consideration.

The Matadors’ men’s basketball team knew that their chances of securing the top spot in the Region I Playoffs hinged on three different things, and only one of those things actually panned out for them Friday night.  The Mats received a strong effort from freshman Mehdi Cheriet-whose 32 points Friday night is a career-high; sophomore Matt Gonzales-who scored 22 of the 23 points he had Friday night in the first half against Central;  and sophomore point guard Kenny Dawkins-who put on a show with 5 3-point goals in the 2^nd half (and 21 points overall) to beat Central Arizona, 98-64.  However, to clinch the top seed in the playoffs, which begin Tuesday night, they would also need:  1) an Eastern Arizona loss; or (2) a Cochise win; or 3) a Cochise loss and a Mesa loss.  Eastern Arizona had a big 2^nd half in their game versus Pima in Thatcher Friday night, and the Gila Monsters won, 100-77, to keep pace with the Matadors atop the regular season standings (both teams finished with 18-4 conference marks).  Mesa soundly beat South Mountain in Phoenix to put the pressure on Cochise for the 3^rd seed.  Finally, the last final of the night came from Douglas, where a nip-and-tuck affair was won by Yavapai over Cochise, 71-69.  The Cochise loss, Mesa win, and South Mountain loss (who is a Division II team, and will actually host the Region I Division II Finals) put them into a 3-way tie for 3^rd place in the ACCAC, which swung the tiebreaker for first place to the Gila Monsters.  That means that Cochise and Mesa will meet in the Region I Quarterfinals on Tuesday night, March 6^th.  The winner of that will then travel to Yuma on Thursday, March 8^th, for a 7:30PM clash at ‘The House’ on the campus of AWC against the 2^nd-seeded Matadors.  The winner of that game will then head to Thatcher Saturday night, March 10^th, to face the top-seeded Gila Monsters in the Region I Finals at 7:30PM.