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Deraj McClinton of Vilseck prepares to shoot a free throw Friday in the visiting Lady Falcons' 36-33 come from behind win against the Bamberg Barons in Bamberg, Germany. McClinton had a game-high 16 points for her team.

Deraj McClinton of Vilseck prepares to shoot a free throw Friday in the visiting Lady Falcons' 36-33 come from behind win against the Bamberg Barons in Bamberg, Germany. McClinton had a game-high 16 points for her team. (Dan Blottenberger/Stars and Stripes)

Deraj McClinton of Vilseck prepares to shoot a free throw Friday in the visiting Lady Falcons' 36-33 come from behind win against the Bamberg Barons in Bamberg, Germany. McClinton had a game-high 16 points for her team.

Deraj McClinton of Vilseck prepares to shoot a free throw Friday in the visiting Lady Falcons' 36-33 come from behind win against the Bamberg Barons in Bamberg, Germany. McClinton had a game-high 16 points for her team. (Dan Blottenberger/Stars and Stripes)

Tiana Bowen of Bamberg brings the ball down court Friday. Bowen had 13 points for the Lady Barons in their 36-33 loss to the visiting Vilseck Falcons.

Tiana Bowen of Bamberg brings the ball down court Friday. Bowen had 13 points for the Lady Barons in their 36-33 loss to the visiting Vilseck Falcons. (Dan Blottenberger/Stars and Stripes)

T.J. Cortright of Bamberg makes his way to the basket Friday in Bamberg, Germany. Cortright led his team with 16 points and nine rebounds in a 64-52 losing effort to the visiting Vilseck Falcons.

T.J. Cortright of Bamberg makes his way to the basket Friday in Bamberg, Germany. Cortright led his team with 16 points and nine rebounds in a 64-52 losing effort to the visiting Vilseck Falcons. (Dan Blottenberger/Stars and Stripes)

Jeremy Morgan of Bamberg goes for a layup Friday in Bamberg, Germany. The Barons fell to the visiting Vilseck Falcons 64-52.Stripes

Jeremy Morgan of Bamberg goes for a layup Friday in Bamberg, Germany. The Barons fell to the visiting Vilseck Falcons 64-52.Stripes (Dan Blotenberger/Stars and Stripes)

BAMBERG, Germany – Deraj McClinton of Vilseck scored her team’s last eight points Friday, capping a 12-point comeback for the Lady Falcons, who captured their seventh win of the season, a 36-33 victory over Bamberg.

McClinton finished with a game-high 16 points putting the Falcons one game above .500 in their final weekend of basketball prior to Europeans next week in Wiesbaden.

“This is more of a learning curve for us – we need to start and play like we did in the fourth quarter,” said McClinton, whose team was down 21-9 at the half before mounting a second-half comeback.

The Falcons dominated the fourth after being down 30-21 at the end of the third – outscoring the Barons 15-3 in the final quarter of play.

A basket by McClinton tied the score at 30 with 2 minutes and 40 seconds remaining. The Falcons took the lead a half a minute later via McClinton.

Tiana Bowen was the only point scorer for the Barons in the fourth, hitting three free throws. Bowen finished the game with 13 points.

Bamberg started the game strongly, controlling most of the time of possession in the first half with a combination of strong defense and missed shots by the Falcons. As the second-half momentum shifted, Bamberg fans were on their feet as foul after foul mounted against the home team. Bamberg lost four of its five starters to fouls in the final quarter.

In boy’s action, nine of Vilseck’s 11 players scored as the Falcons captured their ninth win of the season, 64-52.

“When we do that we do well,” said Vilseck Coach John Sabala of the variety of scorers his team produced.

The win did not come easy as Bamberg’s T.J. Cortright hit 10 of his team’s 12 points before the half as the Barons took a 30-26 lead before the buzzer. Cortright was the Barons high-scorer with 16. He also had nine rebounds.

The second half started with a bang – literally, as Derrick Woulard hammered in the half’s first basket via slam-dunk. It was hard to find a Vilseck fan in their seats after Woulard did it again in the fourth quarter, signaling the Falcons’ surging momentum. Woulard finished with 10 points.

Calvin Hickman had 11 points and Daniel Arroyo added 10.

Sabala saw good promise in his defense led by Nathaniel Hocker and Shawn Peebles, who combined for 14 rebounds in what Sabala described as a “shut-down” defensive performance.

“We have a really good shot if we play defense and rebound,” said Sabala of his team’s chances next week. “We can be a tough opponent for anybody.”

The teams meet again Saturday in Vilseck for the last game of the regular season.

blottenbergerd@estripes.osd.mil

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