KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – The defending European Division II champion Hohenfels Tigers and their hosts, the Kaiserslautern Red Raiders of Division I showed all the resolution anyone could ask Friday night in their first game of the new year.Kaiserslautern rode two clutch fourth-quarter assists by Derryk Scarvers and just-good-enough one-for-two efforts from the free throw line by Quinton Whitfield and Lorenzo Williams in the final minute to claim a 66-65 non-regional victory.“My job is to keep the team up,” said Scarvers, whose 24 points led a Kaiserslautern team which appeared en route to a rout after jumping out to a 23-11 lead after the game’s first eight minutes. “I’ve got to try to keep our momentum up.”Kaiserslautern needed Scarvers’ leadership because Hohenfels, and especially game-high scorer Devon Fluker (26 points) and his teammates Gilbert Pinckney and Xavier Davis (15 points each), refused to quit.Pinckney, making his season debut for the Tigers, scored six points in the second quarter as the Tigers cut their deficit to 36-27 at halftime. He came back after intermission to post five points, five rebounds, his second block of the game and an assist in the third period to help the visitors catch Kaiserslautern at 48 going into the game’s final eight minutes.Hohenfels took its first lead of the game 31 seconds into the final stanza on a Davis bucket, but Scarvers dished to Devin Joseph to tie things again, then converted a 3-point play, canned another bucket, assisted on an Andrew Stern basket and sank two free throws to enable Kaiserslautern to go up 60-57 with 2:38 to go. Fluker and Pinckney, however, each converted two free throws to tie the game 62-62 with 1:28 left, but Marquis Grant’s clutch put-back basket with 46 seconds to go put Kaiserslautern ahead to stay.Pinckney, who played one quarter of the JV game which preceded the main event, missed two free throw tries with 33.3 seconds left. Whitfield sank his second of two tries with 10 seconds left, and Williams did the same thing with four seconds to go to pad Kaiserslautern’s lead to 66-62. The Red Raiders, however, would need every one of those points when Fluker canned a three-ball from the right wing at the buzzer.Despite the intensity of the Hohenfels comeback, Kaiserslautern never appeared to be rattled.“Coach (Brant) T(ryon) always tells us to keep our heads,” Scarvers said. “He gives us the game plan, and we stick with it.”The game was the first for each team since Dec. 10. Kaiserslautern will take a 3-1 overall record into Saturday afternoon’s game here against the Tigers; Hohenfels fell to 0-4.

Kaiserslautern girls rollKaiserslautern’s Lady Raiders wasted little time in collecting their first victory of 2012 and third win of the season, 43-17, over the Hohenfels Lady Tigers.“It’s easier to play after getting a big lead,” said Kaiserslautern starter Amber Perryman about her team’s 16-3 first-quarter run. “There’s less pressure.”Jada Perry, who ended with a game-high 12 points, and Medina Gregory, who finished with 11 points, led the scoring parade in Kaiserslautern’s decisive first period with a couple of buckets each, but the significant damage was done by the Lady Raiders’ defense.Kaiserslautern forced a lethal 11 first-quarter turnovers, eight of them on steals.Drew and Perry each scored four more points in the second stanza to boost the Lady Raiders to a 29-8 halftime edge. Medina Gregory scored seven of her nine points in the first half as Kaiserslautern improved to 3-1 overall in this non-regional game.Hohenfels, which split early-season games with Vilseck of Division I, got eight points from Tashia Golson and six from Kiana Glenn. The Lady Tigers, a D-II school, fell to 2-2 going into Saturday afternoon’s game here against Kaiserslautern.bryanr@estripes.osd.mil