RAF MILDENHALL, England —– Thankfully for Lakenheath, the trip home after a 24-point loss in the men’s title game of the USAFE Basketball Tournament was brief.
The Eagles were buried by Ramstein’s 17-0 run that opened the second half and never got close again in an 88-64 loss.
Both teams will play in next week’s tournament in Bamberg, Germany, against U.S. Army Europe finalists Heidelberg and Kaiserslautern in the Army-Air Force Final Four.
Ramstein coach Jason Glenn was not satisfied with an opening half that ended with his team leading 38-33.
“I was not happy with that first half,” he said.
So the Rams, who finished round-robin play undefeated, came out after halftime with much more intensity. They seemed to get every loose ball, grab all the rebounds and succeed on each fast break. The Eagles struggled against a quick man-to-man defense, failing to score for the first 4 minutes, 50 seconds of the second half as the Rams stretched their lead to 25 points more than once.
“Offense wins games,” said Glenn. “But defense wins championships.”
Troy Myles led Ramstein with 19 points while Austin Layton added 17.
Charles Flanagan paced the Eagles with 13 points and Tone Meyers scored 12.
Glenn said the Rams are on a mission.
“Our best game is yet to come,” he said.
All-tournament teams
Myles and Layton were selected to the men’s all-tournament team.
Also making the team were Robert Gray and Charles Hill of Aviano, Robert Harris and DeAngelis Bright of Spangdahlem, Reggie Minton and Felton Scott of Mildenhall, Charles Flannagan of Lakenheath and Dwayne Adams of Incirlik.
Women’s champion Mildenhall placed four players on the women’s all-tournament team: Jeri Fears, Devin Mims, Bree Griffiths and Alexius Knight.
Joining them are Lakyshia Fullwood, Nicole Howard and Lanika Freeman of Ramstein, Nicole Bowman and Kim Cabelka of Aviano, and Kristin James of Spangdahlem.
