JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
The Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Warhawks men's varsity basketball team fell to the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Rangers, 92-80, in a preseason game Oct. 3 at the base Chaparral Fitness Center.
JBSA-Fort Sam Houston forward Leslie Autrey scored a game-high 35 points and Rangers guards Audrey Lamb and Curtis Dilworth each added 19 points in the win.
Despite the loss, five Warhawks players scored in double digits.
Guard Deandre Snow and forward/guard Maurice Jenkins-Day each scored 15 points, guard Steve Constantin racked up 11 points, and forwards Ty Moore and Darrell Davis each had 10 for the Warhawks.
Behind 38-37 at the half, the JBSA-Lackland offense shifted momentum its way early in the second half, opening up a nine-point lead six minutes into the period.
But then the wheels started to come off the Warhawks' offensive machine. The Rangers chipped away at the lead, narrowing the deficit to two with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.
A layup from Dilworth gave JBSA-Fort Sam its first lead of the second half at 67-66. The Warhawks stayed within striking distance, but ultimately, the Rangers' fast breaks and rapid drives through the paint made the difference.
With the game tied at 73, JBSA-Lackland turned the ball over and the Rangers went on a decisive 16-5 run with five minutes to play.
The last of Dilworth's 19 points came on a game-ending layup that produced the final score and Fort Sam's largest lead in the game.
The two teams had been on an even keel before JBSA-Fort Sam's decisive double-digit run in the last five minutes.
Rangers coach Delvin Maston, who was issued a technical foul for arguing with an official and tossing his clipboard to the floor in the first half, liked the way his team bounced back from a subpar performance on both ends of the floor.
"We played great defense in the last part of the second half, but the opposite was true early on. We didn't play much defense in the first half.
"We finally settled down and started knocking down a few shots," Maston said. "We stopped settling for long shots and started pushing the ball into the paint. That's what turned the game around.
"Once we started driving more into the paint, our outside shots started flowing, too," he added.
Maston said his players may have faced a deficit in the middle of the second half but they were never down on themselves.
"We might be behind but we are never down," he said. "We, as a team, just stick together.
"We practice everyday for these types of situations where we are down by 10 or 15 points with two minutes left so we can be prepared to handle them," he added.
Warhawks coach Laurus Martin said giving up second-chance shots and turning the ball over, along with the Rangers' three-point play opportunities, led to his team's downfall.
"Second shots and three-point plays kept us from winning this game," Martin said. "We didn't execute well down the stretch, had crucial turnovers at the wrong time, and gave up too many easy baskets."
Martin said the team needs to improve its defense and rebounding, and cut down on turnovers.
"We need to help each other on defense and take care of the ball down the stretch," he said.
The loss drops the Warhawks to 1-2 in preseason play.
The Warhawks open the regular season Nov. 3 against teams from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., at 2 p.m. and Holloman AFB, N.M., at 6 p.m. at the Warhawk Fitness Center.