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Back-to-back titles caps perfect season for 43rd LRS

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Chris Hoyler
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  The 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron capped off a perfect season Monday with a 55-43 win over the 43rd Mission Support Squadron in the Pope Intramural Basketball championship game at the Pope Fitness Center. 

This game, despite the double-digit final margin, wasn't as easy as 43rd LRS had it in the regular season, when they won several games by more than 30 points, or in the first round of the playoffs, when they won by 15. 

It required attrition, a few lucky bounces, some clutch 3-point shooting and, most importantly, a gutsy first half coaching decision by Jason Abney that turned the tide of a tight contest. 

43rd LRS jumped out to an 11-6 lead after Kenneth Carter rejected 43rd MSS forward Kasey Crews shot attempt and turned the ball back up court, where his teammates finished a fast break. 

After that basket, 43rd MSS took a timeout with 13:45 remaining in the first half. They came out of the break on fire, picking up their first lead on a 3-point play when Crews rebounded a missed layup by 43rd MSS guard Irvin Gourdine and was fouled while scoring on the put back. He converted the free throw and gave his team a 13-11 lead. 

Crews added another layup to cap a 9-1 run and give his team a 15-12 lead. 43rd LRS decided it was their turn to slow down the pace of the game by taking a timeout at the 7:54 mark of the half. 

It was during that meeting at the bench that Abney chose to go with a man-to-man, full court press defense. Considering 43rd MSS had just seven players on their roster to 43rd LRS having 10, the move made sense, and it was key in fatiguing 43rd MSS and exploiting their shallow bench. 

"We had to put some pressure on their point guard (Gourdine)," Abney said. "We did that (full-court press) often this season." 

43rd LRS immediately went on a run, regaining the lead when Carter cleaned up a rebound and made his put back layup. 

Steven Morris, 43rd MSS center, tied the game back up at 17 with an impressive sequence in which he made a put back layup, grabbed a defensive rebound and then drew an offensive foul by taking a charge. 

"He (Morris) played his best game of the year," Gourdine said. 

But that was the last time 43rd MSS was not trailing. Robert Naylor scored five consecutive points, including a wide-open 3-pointer from the left wing to cap a 14-4 run that put 43rd LRS up 26-19. 

Any chance at a comeback early in the second half was sealed by a sequence that started with Taylor scoring off a rebound. From there, Crews missed two short put backs off offensive rebounds, Abney made a brillant pass to Naylor for an easy layup and finally a steal was converted into a layup and a foul by Carter. 

Four minutes into the half, 43rd LRS was up 12 at 35-23 and 43rd MSS was using another timeout to regroup. 

The rest of the second half consisted mostly of the team's exchanging turnovers and 43rd LRS squashing any chance at a 43rd MSS run by hitting timely 3-pointers. 

"There defense was great. They controlled the paint and took our big guys out of the equation," said Jon LaDue, 43rd MSS, "On offense they just ran a better scheme and killed us from beyond the arc." 

43rd LRS guards were often driving into the lane and finding wide open teammates, specifically Naylor and Carter, on the wings for easy 3-point attempts. 

"That's not what our original game plan was but that seemed to be working so I kept doing it," Abney said. 

The leading scorer for 43rd LRS was Naylor, who finished with a game-high 19 points. He also grabbed three rebounds and had a steal. 

43rd MSS was led by Crews, with 11 points and four rebounds, and David Bremmer with 10 points and two rebounds.