SPORTS News

MARINE CORPS DEFEATS DEFENDING CHAMPS NAVY 85-81 IN DOUBLE OT - AIR FORCE OUTGUNS ARMY 104-91

The Marines fired the first shot heard around the world Sunday as it defeated the defending Armed Forces Men's Basketball Champions from Navy 85-81 in double overtime in the first game of the 2006 Men's championship Fort Carson, Colo.

The Armed Forces tournament matches the best players from the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy in a six-game tournament that will decide which service has the best men's basketball team.

Navy came into the game with a veteran team that returns six players from last year's championship team and the odds on favorite to win this year's championship because of its edge in experience over the other services. Before the game, in what would turn out to be prophetic words, Sam Caldwell, Navy head coach acknowledged his team had an edge in experience but cautioned against engraving Navy's name on the trophy before the tournament ran its course.

"This is a whole new year. No one cares about what you did last year. When you look at the history of the Navy program we have only won championships in 1996 and in 2005. Based on our past and some of the rhetoric we have heard no one expects us to come in here and do anything like last year. They more expect us to do what the Navy has done in the past and we are here to change that reputation," Caldwell said.

The Marines arrived in Colorado Springs feeling every team had circled its game against them as a victory. Dennis Murphy, Marines head coach, didn't mind how his team was viewed because he knew he had a special group of players who's main goal is to represent the Marine Corps and play the best basketball it can during the tournament.

"The main thing you will see from the Marines is that we are going to play hard. We've got some new guys this year and we have guys that are going to compete and that is going to be our trademark at the tournament. We are going to play hard for the entire 40 minutes. None of our starters from last year return this and I'm curious to see what our guys come out with. We respect what the other teams bring to the table and it's just a matter of us taking care of what we are trying to do," Murphy said.

Early in the game it didn't look like the story of the day would be the Marines victory as Navy jumped out to a 22-17 lead and appeared to be cruising toward a victory. Navy could not extend its lead to double digits throughout the rest of the first half and watching the Marines battling with them on even terms as halftime approached lent credence to Murphy's words that the team would play hard and be competitive.

As the second half began the Marines made a run at the Navy that saw them catch Navy and take its first lead of the game at 43-41 with 10 minutes and 13 seconds left to play. With the momentum of having fought back to take the lead on its side, the Marines battled the bigger Navy team on even terms for the rest of the half and the game was tied as the buzzer went off completing regulation play. In the first overtime the Marines again matched the Navy shot for shot but the Marines also were beginning to get in foul trouble as two of its starters fouled out of the game.

In the second overtime the Marines appeared to be the fresher of the two teams as it raced out to a four point lead early in the overtime and then held off the Navy to capture the victory.

After the game Caldwell said he knows that many would consider the Marine victory an upset but he looked at it differently.

"We definitely didn't play Navy basketball like we played all through camp. But you have to take your cap off to the Marines who played hard and they didn't give up. The Marines didn't lay down for us and I told my guys you can have the appearance and can look good on paper but you have to play the game. This was the worst game we have played since we came together. Armed forces basketball is about pride. You can't measure another man's heart and you can't measure his pride. I told my team we are going to be in a dog fight when we play these guys. I also reminded my guys that you can't take teams lightly. When you go into an alley you have to be ready to scrap," Caldwell said.

Murphy was understandably proud of his team's efforts more than he was the victory over the defending champions because he said it brought out what the Marine Corps is all about.

"The guys just battled and never quit. We had four guys that fouled out and the guys we put in just turned up their game and did what had to be done. This was a total team victory. Give Navy credit though because they are as good as advertised and we feel we were fortunate to have won. The one thing I knew this team would do is play hard. They have shown that in camp and this tells you the kind of kids they are. I'm not going to tell you that when we were down things didn't look questionable at times, but the one thing about my team is whether we are winning or losing, if there is time on the clock they are going to play hard. We may not be the most talented or the most athletic team but no team is going to out work us which is a tribute to being a Marine and what being a Marine stands for," Murphy said.

In the second game of the night the Air Force brought a big, athletic and talent laden team into the game with the Army and raced to a 104-91 victory. Air Force quickly established it's inside dominance as Tysen Pina scored on two thunderous dunk shots on two of its first five possessions.

Like the first game it looked like Air Force would use its height advantage over Army to secure a victory but the Army team showed what it lacked in height it more than made up for with experience and heart. Army fought hard against Air Force in the first half and actually took a 43-41 lead into halftime.

The game started to turn Air Force's way about five minutes into the second half as Drew Colon's quickness could not be matched on the perimeter and the Air Force inside game became dominant. Air Force slowly pulled away and earned its first victory of the tournament by defeating the home standing Army team.

After the game John Bailey Air Force head coach said his team played the game just as he wanted it to, emphasizing team play and intelligence over athletic ability.

"This is the best way to start a tournament with a win. We had a lot of one on one mismatches and we took advantage of them. We knew we would not be able to get into our offense so we decided to take advantage of the mismatches we had. The key to success for us is our character and our ability to think the game on the floor. We have a team that can keep its focus under pressure," Bailey said.

"We have been telling our players that at this level all the teams are equally talented and the team that can also think the game will have an advantage. We think basketball is 90 percent mental and we want to out ourselves in a position mentally that we can take advantage of every possession we have. We're still trying to get our team to think basketball because we feel the team that thinks the best will prevail in this tournament," Bailey added.