CE/MSS/SVS repeat as base champs Published March 2, 2007 By Senior Airman Patrice Clarke 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- History repeated itself Feb. 28 when the 39th Civil Engineer, Mission Support and Services Squadron's combined team beat the 39th Security Forces Squadron 48-44 in the Intramural Basketball Championship game at the fitness center. The hard-fought defensive battle was almost a mirror image of the 2006 championship which pitted these two teams against each other. Just like last year, SFS had to beat CES/MSS/SVS twice to win the championship and in keeping in line with history, CES/MSS/SVS again claimed the title. However, the second straight title did not come easy because both teams came to win. "Our strategy was to play a fast-paced game and play a box-in-one defense against DeMarco Poole to stop their perimeter game," said Christopher Greek, SFS coach. Early on the strategy worked as SFS took the lead by a narrow margin behind steady scoring by Maurice Gray, Chonsae Howard, and Mike Evans. CES/MSS/SVS answered with scores by Rob Smith and Jerome Latimer to keep pace in a back-and-forth battle, until CES/MSS/SVS fought for some breathing room with three minutes remaining in the half. Timothy Comer hit a three-pointer to put the Defenders on top by two, but Poole countered with his own three to put CES/MSS/SVS on top. Marvin Harris put SFS back on top but Michael Freeman and Latimer scored five unanswered points extending the CES/MSS/SVS lead to 26-23 at the half. "That was the turning point of the game," said Dwayne McCoy, CES/MSS/SVS coach. "It just showed that we were not going to relinquish the championship," said Chapin Johnston, CES/MSS/SVS. "They were going to have to take it." The Defenders came out the gate in the second half eventually locking up the score at 38 with three minutes left. However, fouls and missed shots did them in as CES/MSS/SVS took advantage of the opportunities to claim the crown, 48-44. "I would like to tip my hat to the CES/MSS/SVS basketball team," said Greek. "They were an excellent challenge for us all year long. I would also like to say it was a pleasure coaching a good bunch of sound professionals. Our guys played their hearts out and made me feel like a proud member of the best security forces squadron in USAFE." "After Tuesday night I thought it would be even harder to pull off a win against SFS," said McCoy. "They looked like they would never tire, even after playing the earlier game against the Medical Group. After a night's rest and being a much younger team than us I thought they'd come out pressing and trapping but they didn't. That was definitely in our favor." No one was more impressed by both team's stellar performance than Col. "Tip" Stinnette, 39th Air Base Wing commander. "The caliber of athletes we have here never ceases to amaze me," he said. "The intramural program brings out the best of our competitive spirit. I applaud all our athletes." Box Score CES/MSS/SVS Rob Smith --- 17 DeMarco Poole --- 12 Michael Freeman --- 10 Jerome Latimer --- 8 SFS Marvin Harris --- 17 Maurice Gray --- 10 Mike Evans --- 6 Chonsae Howard --- 6