Subscribe

MANNHEIM, Germany – The Mannheim Bison, playing in their final DODDS-Europe basketball tournament of all time, made the most of their opportunity Wednesday with two double-digit victories.The Bison, seeded eighth, won their pool crown by posting a 65-10 victory over No. 13 Milan in the morning, then came back in the evening to dump No. 3 American Overseas School of Rome, 50-35.Mannheim, which advanced as the Pool C champion to Thursday’s single-elimination portion of the Division II event, is to play No. 12 Bahrain at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at Coleman Barracks here. From Thursday on, the tournament is single-elimination and culminates in Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. title game at the Benjamin Franklin Village Sports Arena here.Mannheim is scheduled to close its doors in June.The three-ball was among the Bison’s biggest weapons on Wednesday.Junior Calvin Baisden sank three treys, all in the first period, against Milan, then burned AOSR for four in the nightcap. Baisden scored 11 points, all in the first quarter, against outgunned Milan and a team-high 18 against high-octane AOSR.Lorenzo Mannozzi led AOSR with 25 points, sinking three three-balls himself. But the Falcons, who got eight points and two treys from Nathan Sieben, managed just four fourth-quarter points.On the other hand, Mannheim, which got 14 points from junior Sam Rosario and two treys from senior Adam Cornelius, managed to erase its 31-30 third-quarter deficit with a 20-point final eight minutes.In limited playing time against Milan, sophomore D.J. Taylor sank two treys en route to a 10-point outing; freshman Michael Grimmett banged home two threes for his six points, and Rosario sank a three-ball en route to his seven points.Mannheim’s two Italy-based victims also begin their single-elimination journeys on Thursday. AOSR will encounter a familiar opponent, Vicenza, at 4 p.m. at Coleman Barracks; Milan is to take on the Pool D champion, the Black Forest Academy-Bamberg winner, at 9:45 a.m., also at Coleman Barracks.

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now