The inside play of Julius Johnson-Rich and Tyler Armstrong made the difference Saturday as the Patch Panthers fended off visiting Ansbach and its inside power, Sam Freeman, 61-52.

Johnson-Rich had 16 points and 17 rebounds and Tyler Armstrong had 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks as the Panthers completed a sweep and improved to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in Region III, one game behind Heidelberg in the loss column.

The sweep, however, might be more significant for the Panthers because of the way they overcame monster efforts Friday and Saturday from the 6-foot-9 Freeman, Europe’s most impressive inside presence.

"Sam Freeman gave Patch all it could handle with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots before fouling out with 2:52 left in the third quarter," Patch assistant Shawn Phelps wrote in an e-mail report of Friday’s 66-58 Patch victory. "… (Saturday) Ansbach got another huge night from … Freeman — 18 points and 18 rebounds along with five steals and two blocked shots."

Marcus Allen scored 20 points on Saturday for Ansbach, which fell to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the region.

In other boys games of note:

Lakenheath 48, SHAPE 44: In a Region I test Saturday, Trevor Snapp scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Lancers (5-2 overall, 4-0 in Region I) overcome 33 points by SHAPE’s Kenny Conlan.

According to Lakenheath coach Alan Campbell, Conlan scored all 17 of SHAPE’s first-half points to keep the Spartans within a field goal at intermission. But Lakenheath went on a 16-7 third-quarter run which was enough to see it through SHAPE’s 20-13 run in the final stanza.

Lakenheath prevailed 38-34 on Friday against the defending European D-II champs (2-5 overall, 1-2 in Region I.)

Ramstein 80, Baumholder 50: On Friday at Ramstein, the unbeaten Royals unleashed a vicious press in the second period to produce a 33-12 run that put the game away.

Michael Wallace and Evan Canfield each pulled off three steals during the period to help Ramstein move to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Region II.

Menwith Hill 44, AFNORTH 33: On Saturday at Menwith Hill, Corey Crane scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Mustangs (4-3 overall, 2-2 in Region I) held high-scoring Yannick Hickman to just nine points. AFNORTH (3-5 overall, 1-3 in the region) won Friday’s game 61-51 behind 28 points from Hickman.

Vicenza 53, Milan 10: On Saturday at Vicenza, Fabian Severson sank four three-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points. The outburst allowed the Cougars to complete a weekend sweep for their first victories of the season.

Naples 52, AOSR 45: On Friday at Naples, the Wildcats, playing their first game of the season, broke loose for a 21-point fourth quarter and rallied to victory.

Vince Feazell scored 27 points to lead Naples, which had its only pre-holiday games forfeited by Marymount and which was prevented by snow from traveling to Milan the previous weekend.

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