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The battle of the champions went Giessen’s way on Friday and Saturday as the Griffins, the reigning European Division IV champions, sent 2006 European D-III champion Bamberg home 0-2 for the weekend.

C.J. Battle did most of the damage for Giessen. He scored 19 points and snared 12 rebounds in Friday’s 44-36 victory, then came back Saturday with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Griffins’ 57-47 victory.

The sweep left Giessen, 7-1 overall, tied for the Division III-South lead with Ansbach, which was idle.

Bamberg fell to 5-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Whatever happens the rest of the way, the Barons will be unable to defend their European D-III crown because enrollment declines will place them in D-IV for this year’s tournament. Giessen likewise will vacate its title. The Griffins moved up to Division III this season.

In other boys’ games of note:

Menwith Hill 57-51, Alconbury 35-44: ;At RAF Alconbury, England, Le’Shawn Adams led the way as the Mustangs improved to 4-0 in Division III-North.

Adams scored 19 points Friday and 15 on Saturday. Greg Puccetti scored 13 and 15 in the sweep that left Menwith Hill with a home showdown against London Central Feb. 9-10 standing between it and the league title. London Central is 2-0 in the league after sweeping visiting Brussels over the weekend.

Heidelberg 59, Kaiserslautern 45:; At Kaiserslautern, Shon Fisher and Chris Frazier each scored 15 points as the Lions handed their hosts their first loss of the season.

K-town fell again at home to Wiesbaden, 56-52, on Saturday as the Warriors tied Ramstein for the D-I lead at 2-0. The Royals posted a road sweep at Lakenheath over the weekend.

Baumholder 48-60, Bitburg 37-43: ;In a home-and-home sweep, Baumholder remained unbeaten as Sonny Clark took game scoring honors each night with 17 points.

According to Baumholder coach Spencer Bean, the Bucs lead by five points going into the fourth quarter Friday night in Bitburg, but took the game in hand with a quick six-point run.

Baumholder kept the momentum going early Saturday at home, breaking out to a 14-2 lead. In addition to scoring 17 points, Bean said, Clark handed out six assists and took two charges.

Naples 62-65, Milan 27-43:; At Milan, the Wildcats made their second of three straight trips up the Italian peninsula successful. The sweep made Naples 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the American Schools in Italy League race.

Naples is to return this weekend to Aviano for a conference game against the Saints, as well as tilts against potential European tournament foes Vilseck and Würzburg. According to coach Richard Elliott, however, Naples will enter the showdown without three starters who’ll be left at home for college testing.

Mannheim 51, Vilseck 50 (OT): ;At Mannheim, Byron Daniel, who finished with nine points, made two free throws with just seconds to play Saturday to hand the Bison their first victory of the season.

Davonte Cook led all Mannheim scorers with 10 points. Ronnie Turner of Vilseck scored 20 for the second straight game, canning five three-pointers to give him nine for the weekend.

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