MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- As the beginning of the intramural basketball season starts, players with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 and Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay faced off in a season-opening game at the Semper Fit Center gym, Jan. 21, 2014.
Both teams played hard, but MALS-24 achieved victory with a score of 40-22.
“It’s always good to start the season off with a win,” said Elijah Eriksson, a center for MALS-24. “We have a lot of guys on the team that really know how to play the game. I think we played very unselfish basketball to allow teammates to get a lot of open shots.”
At the opening tipoff, MALS-24 scored the first points but MCAS didn’t give up easily. Both teams stayed neck and neck and wouldn’t allow each other to take a strong lead over the other during the beginning of the first half.
As the first half started to wind down, it became clear that MALS-24 was starting to pull away with a 21-14 lead.
“It was our first time playing together and the more we play together the better team we will be,” said Josh Ervin, a point guard for MCAS. “We could have played better defense but I think over time we will find what defense is the best fit for how we play.”
Taking full advantage of offensive rebounds and making a select few three point shots, MCAS managed to keep within striking distance of MALS-24. What MALS-24 did to counteract MCAS, was to continue sharing the ball and making strong drives to the basket.
MALS-24 continually found themselves at the free-throw line for easy points mostly because they drew fouls when driving to the basket. Several open shots and fast break opportunities allowed MALS-24 to widen the gap on their lead.
With 9 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game, the score stood at a 28-17 MALS-24 lead.
A common basketball saying is “Live by the three or die by three,” and was true throughout this game because MCAS shot several three-point shots. Early in the game MCAS made a couple of three-point shots, but later on, the ball wasn’t making it through the hoop when shot from behind the ark. This made it nearly impossible for them to come back.
The ending result was a 40-22 MALS-24 victory over MCAS.
“We could definitely work on our zone defense, but it was good to see how well we finished our fast break opportunities,”
Eriksson said. “With more practice we will only get better. This is a good team looking forward to the rest of the season.”