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Navy and Army battle it out on the court

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dennis L. Sloan
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Navy dominated Army during the joint base's first intra service basketball game at the Lakehurst Fitness Center April 5.

The Navy team, made up of sailors from Lakehurst, squared off against Mid-Atlantic Army Recruiting Battalion in a 60-minute full-court battle.

The first quarter was dominated by Navy who accumulated a 10-point lead with precision shooting and a lock down defense. Navy's big men underneath rebounded most missed shots and put them back up for two or dished them back out to guards.

The Army had trouble shooting and passing during the entire first half allowing the Navy to build up an even bigger lead at half time.

"We missed a lot of our shots in first half and never really got into a rhythm that would help counteract Navy's success in shooting," said Sgt. Core Richardson, Mid-Atlantic Army Recruiting Battalion.

With Navy up by more than 15 points at half, Army practiced shooting and discussed a game plan to close the gap. The recruiters came out with a strong defense backed by a full-court press.

"With the second half under way, we started playing more like a team and stepped up our defense," said Richardson. "As a team we had a lot more success at taking it to the hoop and perimeter shooting as well."

The third quarter ended with Navy up by 14 points still holding an impressive lead. The Army's defense could only do so much to hold off Navy's explosive offense.

"I felt we played great and took everything the Army could throw at us and still made it out on top," said Aviation Boatswains Mate Equipment 3rd Class Gregorio Decena, NSA launch and maintenance equipment maintainer.

Even with a full-court press and a better shooting percentage the Army could not close the gap on the Navy's lead. After bringing the lead within 10 point during the third quarter the Army would never get closer any closer to the lead. The game ended with a score of 58-44 Navy over Army.

Navy was presented the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst 2011 Navy vs. Army Basketball Champions trophy and the Army received the runner-up trophy.

The Navy team had five players with 10 or more points. The Army's top scorer was Richardson with 27 points totaled during the 60 minute game.

The game was organized and managed by Laura Dempsey, 87th Force Support Squadron, Mark Smith, 87th FSS joint base Lakehurst fitness director and Command Master Chief Herbert Kelton, NSA Lakehurst.

"The game was a hard fought battle with Navy coming out victorious, "said Airman John Carver, 305th Air Department Transient line division equipment maintainer and operator.