WIESBADEN, Germany – Small schools. Huge excitement.

Chris Moore scored five points in the game’s final eight seconds to give the Sigonella Jaguars a stunning 43-40 win over the Baumholder Bucs in the 2015 DODDS-Europe Division III boys basketball championship game.

As the clock ticked down under 10 seconds, the sophomore guard scooped a loose ball off the floor under the rim, went up strong through a Baumholder foul for the game-tying basket and converted the free-throw to put the Jaguars up by a point.

He then made a steal, drew another foul and hit two more free throws with two seconds left to finish the job.

The dramatic Sigonella win immediately followed a similarly epic clash between the schools’ girls teams, which Baumholder won 28-24 in overtime.

“I did it for the girls,” Moore said just before accepting his award as the Division III tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “We had to go out and do what we do best, and win.”

Moments earlier, things looked a lot different for both schools. Baumholder was on the verge of a title-game sweep. Sigonella was staring at a long and silent trip through the boot of Italy.

But young Baumholder, coach Darrell Winfrey said, got “lost in the moment.” And Moore seized that moment, in the form of the basketball he unexpectedly found at his feet in the game’s final seconds.

“I didn’t know that was going to happen. I picked it up, shot it, and happily, it was an and-one,” Moore said, referring to the basket and resulting free throw. “I don’t know. It was crazy.”

The teams came into the game with very similar bodies of work. Each dragged an 8-5 record out of a challenging regular-season schedule, earning Sigonella the bracket’s No. 2 seed and Baumholder the No. 3 slot.

Each recorded a landmark semifinal win Friday; Sigonella ousted defending champion Brussels, while Baumholder eliminated tournament top seed Alconbury.

The only thing separating the two was Sigonella’s 51-42 pool-play win over Baumholder on Thursday.

But the Bucs that took the court Saturday were an improved group from that early encounter. Guards Jaylon Bentley and Jaylen Martin hit early three-pointers as part of an 8-0 game-opening run for Baumholder. A pair of driving layups and two free throws by Kadarius Williams, the team’s lone senior, put the Bucs ahead 12-7 through eight minutes.

Sigonella took its turn at the controls in the second quarter. A pair of no-look dishes from Sigonella point guard Jason Berlin found teammate Thomas Wray for point-blank hoops. Moore completed the rally with a string of driving layups capped by a buzzer-beating bank shot that put Sigonella up 22-19 at halftime. Baumholder reconstructed its lead in the third quarter, taking a 34-29 lead into the final eight minutes.

But the fourth-quarter action bogged down as title-game anxiety appeared to take hold. Baumholder dribbled out long stretches, forcing trailing Sigonella to eventually foul to regain possession. Sigonella got the missed free throws it was after, but couldn’t corral the ensuing rebounds, sending Baumholder back to the line. But the ball then eluded the Bucs in the game’s decisive sequence.

“We got a little bit excited, and it got away from us,” Winfrey said.

Moore finished with a game-high 24 points. Wray added 14, including a key fourth-quarter three-pointer. The two combined for all but five of the Jaguars’ points. Williams led Baumholder with 14 points.

The win ended a championship drought for the Sigonella boys, though they’d remained deep in the title mix throughout. The Jaguars won the 2009 Division IV crown, lost the next two Division III championship games and finished in third place in two of the last three seasons before winning another title Saturday.

Baumholder made a successful return to the small-school level this winter after a brief stint in Division II. The Bucs won the Division III title in 2009 and finished as Division III runner-up in 2013.

With youth and momentum on its side, Baumholder plans to be a fixture of the Division III title scene. This season, Winfrey said, was just the beginning.

“Nobody expected us to get here, but we got here. So the season, to my mind, is a success,” Winfrey said. “We’ll be back.”

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripesSigonella 43, Baumholder 40 Saturday at Wiesbaden, GermanyBaumholder 12 7 15 6 -- 40Sigonella 7 15 7 14 -- 43Scoring – Baumholder: Kadarius Williams 14, Jaylon Bentley 8, Mike Majors 6, Jaylen Martin 6, Nate Horton 5, Trey Kendrick 1; Sigonella: Chris Moore 24, Thomas Wray 14, Jason Berlin 2, Nate Freeman 2, Derek Mattis 1.

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