Alconbury's Taylor Williamson drives to the hoop against Menwith Hill defenders Ryan Reers, left, and Chris Jackson while Dragon player Khalil Williams and the Mustangs' Christian Burdick look for a rebound. The Dragons defeated the Mustangs, 65-51, in the Friday game, part of a series of games between four Division III foes. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
Alconbury's Taylor Williamson drives to the hoop against Menwith Hill defenders Ryan Reers, left, and Chris Jackson while Dragon player Khalil Williams and the Mustangs' Christian Burdick look for a rebound. The Dragons defeated the Mustangs, 65-51, in the Friday game, part of a series of games between four Division III foes. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Tre'von Owens flies between Menwith Hill defensive players Lawrence Alston, left, and Christian Burdick on Friday on his way to two points. The Admirals won, 56-26 - the second time in two days they beat the Mustangs. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
Alconbury's Chris Lanphear shoots a jump shot over Menwith Hill's Chris Jackson on Friday during Alconbury's 65-51 win. The two were part of a series of games in which four Division III teams played nine games in three days. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
RAF ALCONBURY, England — The Rota Admirals, who won the 2010 Division III basketball tournament, took up where they left off when they took on three of their D-III rivals in a series of games Thursday through Saturday by sweeping its six games.
And they weren’t close.
Led by all-Europe junior Tre’von Owens’ relentless offensive skills, the Admirals outscored opponents by an average of 30 points. Owens top performance came Friday in a 71-41 win over Brussels, in which he tallied 50 points.
Rota also beat Menwith Hill - 81-46 and 56-26 - whipped Alconbury - 65-33 and 56-36 as Owens scored 25 - and buried Brussels, 65-32, as Owens matched the Brigands’ total on his own. Terrence Paris, who frequently finished second to Owens in scoring, also helped put the opposition away.
The Admirals will go back to Spain as their opposition resumes play and tries to figure out how to beat the Admirals before they meet again at the European basketball championships Feb. 23-26 in Mannheim, Germany.
Alconbury played five games over the three days, beating everyone but Rota. The Dragons topped nearby rival Menwith Hill twice, 43-33 led by Chris Lanphear’s 10 points, and 65-51 as Ryan Mantell hit for 16, and Brussels once, 51-30.
Dragon coach Jake Jacob said the weekend games are good because the format gives the players an opportunity to get a feel for tournament-style play similar to what they can expect at the European championships.
He said that while he felt his team played well, they did not play up to their full potential over the three days. “They’ve had ups and downs the whole weekend,” he explained. “We’re looking forward to the Europeans.”
Alconbury’s next game is against The American School in England on Feb. 4.
Menwith Hill didn’t get a victory at the tournament but kept the action close in two games against the Dragons. The Mustangs are led by junior Chris Jackson, who scored 20 and 11 points in two games against Alconbury. Sophomore center Schuyler Backlar pitched in with 10 points against the Dragons.
The Mustangs host AFNORTH on Thursday in their next game.
Brussels lost its three games despite the efforts of Braden Brower, who scored 22 points and 16 points in two losing efforts against Rota, and 19 in a loss to Alconbury.
The Brigands’ next matchup will be Feb. 11 when they travel to SHAPE.
