The SHAPE Spartans came at the kings of DODDS-Europe Division I basketball this weekend, and just narrowly missed.

The defending champion Ramstein Royals withstood two solid upset bids from the rising Division I challengers, earning Friday and Saturday wins by respective scores of 53-46 and 46-38.

The series was a matchup of two Division I contenders sporting unbeaten records entering the weekend. While Ramstein stayed that way, now joined only by Naples among the ranks of the large-school undefeated, the Spartans gave the Royals their toughest test of the season. Ramstein had won all of its five previous games by double digits.

Cameron Little had a lot to do with SHAPE's strong performance, posting six points and 15 rebounds Friday and a game-high 19 points Saturday. But Ramstein's depth won out - TJ Williams scored 11 in a balanced Friday effort; Kendell Allen scored 17 and Mitchell McKinney had 13 in Saturday's victory.

SHAPE makes a similar road trip next weekend as the Spartans travel to Kaiserslautern.

Lakenheath 50, Brussels 25: Saturday at Lakenheath, the Lancers doubled up the Brigands on the scoreboard and on the weekend. Lakenheath's 25-point victory followed the 30-13 win it posted over Brussels on Friday night.

Kentavious Seawood and Myles Erkins scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, to lead the Lancers. Jake Croft grabbed eight boards in the win. Michael DeFazio scored 12 and Callum Proulx added 10 to crack double digits for the Division III Brigands.

Vicenza 42/53, Florence 3/17: At Vicenza, the host Cougars snapped a five-game losing streak at the expense of their overwhelmed visitors. Eric Luster scored 15 points Friday and Abram Brown scored 10 Saturday to fuel the lopsided victories.

The pair of wins were the first for Vicenza since the first weekend of the season, when it split a pair with Sigonella. The Cougars chase their first Division I wins next weekend as Naples, Stuttgart and Vilseck gather in Vicenza for a large-school meet-up.

Naples 56/59, Marymount 19/48: At Naples, the Wildcats neutralized Marymount star Dominic Laffitte just enough to earn a pair of victories.

Naples threw multiple defenders at Laffitte, the high-scoring freshman guard who has revitalized Marymount's struggling hoops program. That placed an untenable amount of pressure on a Royal roster short a pair of key players left behind to prepare for upcoming International Baccalaureate tests.

While the defense limited Laffitte to 13 points Friday, Naples stars Terrell Staten and KC Evans provided the points. Staten scored 23 while Evans added 21.

Laffitte was resurgent Saturday with 30 points and 16 rebounds, but even that effort couldn't compete with the balanced Wildcats. Lamell Griffin scored 22 points to lead three double-digit Naples scorers.

Wiesbaden 53/48, Vilseck 42/45: At Vilseck, the visiting Warriors strengthened their spot in the Division I standings with a dramatic sweep of a fellow large-school hopeful.

David Williams, Daniel Williams and Isiah Washington scored 11 points apiece for Wiesbaden in Friday's victory. The Warriors staged runs in the second and fourth quarters to pull away for the 11-point win.

Meanwhile, a clutch shot made all the difference Saturday. Wiesbaden's John McKoy nailed a three-pointer with just two seconds remaining in regulation to break a tie, deliver the sweep for the Warriors and cap his own 24-point game.

Wiesbaden has won all five of its games coming out of the holiday break after struggling to a 1-3 record on the other side of the winter recess. The Warriors own a 3-2 Division I record; they'll take next weekend off before closing out their season against divisional foes Stuttgart, Ramstein and Kaiserslautern.

Kaiserslautern 45/37, Stuttgart 30/42: At Stuttgart, the visiting Raiders played the host Panthers to a Division I stalemate.

Kaiserslautern took Friday's opener behind a 21-6 third-quarter rally. Ja'Markus Myles scored 14 and Jayden Jones added 12 to reach double digits for the winning Raiders.

Stuttgart responded late Saturday, dodging a home-court sweep with a 12-4 fourth-quarter run.

The Raiders remain at .500 in Division I play entering a showdown with SHAPE. The Panthers secured their first divisional win Saturday, a boost of momentum as they head for Vicenza and a four-team Division I gathering next weekend.

Black Forest Academy 47/56, Bitburg 35/34: At Kandern, Germany, the host Falcons fended off the Barons.

BFA built substantial early advantages in each game, leading by 15 points at the break Friday and by 24 at Saturday's intermission. Noah Greathouse led the BFA attack with 18 points Friday and 25 on Saturday; brother Jonah Greathouse chipped in 14 and 15, respectively.

BFA's Kaden Proctor notched 16 points and 21 rebounds on the weekend.

BFA’s next games are against defending Division I champion Ramstein. The Royals visit Feb. 5-6.

Alconbury 56/52, AFNORTH 41/34: At Alconbury, the Division III Dragons picked up a sweep over the Division II Lions.

Three Dragons were in double digits Friday as Wesley Reddecliff scored 15, Anthony Stewart had 12 and Fritz Sherenco posted 11. AFNORTH's Luke Bonenclark stuffed the opposite side of the stat sheet with eight points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.

Sherenco's 17-point encore on Saturday helped the Dragons withstand a dominant 27-point, 10-rebound double-double by AFNORTH's Logan Harless.

Alconbury is now on a three-game DODDS-Europe winning streak after opening the season with five straight losses.

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