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Tiger’s run ends; runner-ups

  • Published
  • By Courtesy of Tyndall Tigers
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Tyndall Tigers Men's varsity basketball team place second in the annual Southeastern Military Athletic Conference post season basketball tournament held Feb. 16-18 at Hurlburt Field.

Game 1

In Tyndall's first game of the tourney, they were matched up against the Naval Station Mayport Hurricanes Saturday. The Tigers played without their starting center, Antonio Bazemore, and quickly fell behind the hot-shooting Navy squad by as many as 15 points. But the Tigers regrouped and cut the lead to only six at the end of the first half, 45-39.

In the second half, the game was nip and tuck as Tyndall was able to tie the score on three times, but failed to take the lead. Finally, the Tigers took a three-point lead, 78-75, with only 1:57 left remaining. Faulty free-throw shooting and ball handling miscues led to a short-lived lead. With 14 seconds left to go, Mayport led 86-85. The Tigers had one last chance to win the game when they got the ball inside to forward Marqus Armour, who was fouled with 1.8 seconds on the clock. After missing the first free throw, Armour sank the second one to tie the score at 86-86 sending the game into overtime.

Melvin Smith scored six points in overtime to knot the sore at 106-106 with 18 seconds left. Tyndall then made one of their biggest mistakes of the season when Mayport's Mike Corum missed both of his free throws, but the Naval Station was able to come down with the rebound and got fouled again. Corum sunk one of his free throws, ultimately leading to their win 109-106.

Smith paced the Tigers in scoring with 31 points, followed by Armour's 23 and Marcelle Mosley's 11. Smith led in assists with six and Armour led in rebounding with 12. Karega McCollum led Mayport in scoring with a game-high 37-points.

Game 2

After the loss to Mayport, Tyndall was now dropped into the losers' bracket where they faced up against the Moody Air Force Base Bandits Sunday. The two squads engaged in an in-your-face defensive struggle with Tyndall holding onto a one-point lead at the half, 37-36.

The second half was a repeat of the first, but the Tiger's defense stepped it up even more as they held Moody to 29 second-half points to take their first win of the tourney, 72-65.

Armour led the Tigers in scoring with a game-high 23 points, followed by Bazemore's 13. Bazemore also added 13 rebounds while Jared Austin led in assists with five. Joe Nathan paced Moody in scoring with 19.

Game 3

In Tyndall's third game against Fort Benning, they jumped on the Tigers from the tip as they opened up a double-digit lead in the first half. Tyndall went on a late run to close the gap to one point, 37-36 at the intermission.

Continuing play, the Tigers displayed their best half of man-to-man defense of the season. Spearheaded by guards Chris Walker and Rasheem Ramsey, the bandits were limited to only 26 second half points, to take the victory 84-63.

Smith again led six Tigers in double figures with a game-high 22 points, followed by Armour's 15 and Ramsey's 12 points. Smith also led in assists with six, while Armour and Bazemore both added 10 rebounds each. Eric Brigman led Ft. Benning in scoring with 17 points.

Game 4 (Championship game)

Tyndall then had to face the Commandos from Hurlburt Field once again Monday with the winner of this game advancing to the championship game to play Mayport. The two teams engaged in a fast pace game from the opening tip until the buzzer for the first half. Smith's 11 first half points helped give Tyndall the lead at half, 55-50.

The Commandos were unable to wrestle the lead away from the Tigers in the second half. Smith, scoring 22 points in the second half, sank free throw after free throw after free throw. Tyndall took the game 102-93.

Smith's 33 points was the game high. Armour added another 22 points, while Austin led in assists with five and Bazemore led in rebounding with 10. Jamaar Major led Hurlburt in scoring with 26 points.

Game 5 (Championship game)

After a 30-minute rest period, Tyndall met up again with the Mayport Hurricanes in the championship game. Like the first meeting, Mayport jumped out to a quick lead hitting on their first six shots of the game. Tyndall weathered the storm and battled back to lead 42-41 at the half.

Fatigue starting to settle in, Tyndall fell twice to 10-point deficits. Displaying the heart of champions, a Smith three-pointer pulled Tyndall within one point, 86-85. With 1.9 seconds left, Armour was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. With the championship on the line, Armour missed his first free throw, but was able to hit his second one to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, the Tigers were able to gather a four-point lead, but their fortune changed once their floor leader, Smith, was whistled for his fifth foul. With him out, the Tigers committed four consecutive turnovers which led to Mayport capturing the lead and closing out the game. Mayport clinched the victory, 99-95.

Armour led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points, followed by Smith's and Greg Brown's 13 points each. McCollum led Mayport with a game-high 40points and was named most valuable player of the tournament.