THATCHER, Ariz. – The Yavapai College men's basketball team fell in the opening round of the NJCAA Division I Region I Tournament on Saturday night against the Eastern Arizona College Gila Monsters by a score of 83-53. 

Sophomore guard Kieran Carr drove to the rim and scored five minutes into the game to give YC an early 8-7 advantage. 

The Roughriders' edge, however, was short lived as EAC went on a 12-0 after the bucket to a controlling 19-8 lead and one it would not surrender the rest of the ballgame. 

After trailing 37-19 at the half, the Roughriders never gave up and cut their deficit to just 10 points at 43-33 with 13 minutes left to play in the second half, after a nice putback from freshman guard Nadir Myers. 

Despite the short burst, a 10-point deficit was as close as YC would get the rest of the way as the Gila Monsters eventually ran away with the contest with a final score of 83-53. 

Myers, freshman forward Martin De Laporterie and sophomore guard Carter John all tied for the team lead in points scored with 12 while Carr finished with 10 and sophomore guard Tym Richardson finished with seven.