JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
He's no Lebron James or Michael Jordan. He's just "Maurice."
Jordan or James he didn't have to be, as Maurice Jenkins-Day led the 802nd Force Support Squadron with 18 points in a 51-40 victory over the 717th Military Intelligence Battalion in a Division I Intramural Basketball matchup Tuesday.
"I'm a team player or at least I try to be," Jenkins-Day said. "But I can score if my team needs me to score."
Offensive fundamentals were key to FSS' victory, according to Jenkins-Day, but those fundamentals were lost for a little while in the second half.
FSS controlled the first half with a 25-15 lead, but the 717th came back from as much as a 12-point deficit in the second half. The intelligence battalion scored 12 of 14 points to cut the lead to two.
"We got a little sloppy and didn't stick to our fundamentals," Jenkins-Day said. "But once we got back to the fundamentals, when we actually slowed the ball down, we realized our defense was what was getting our offense going."
"One thing you should never do in basketball is look at the clock until it reads double zeros," FSS coach Kenneth Plummer said. "We saw (the 717th) get a little frustrated so we took them for granted."
The FSS cleaned up its sloppy play, recording eight straight points and three steals to get the lead back to 10. After the 717th's Frank Courtney made a free throw, FSS scored six of the next 10 points to seal the win and go 2-0 in Division I after defeating the 93rd Intelligence Squadron 58-28 last week.
"It was a good win for us this week because it was against a little bit better competition," said Plummer.
Having the 12-point lead in the second half made them play sloppy, Jenkins-Day said.
"You get the big head when you look at the score," he said, "and you say 'we got these guys.' You forget to play ball."
FSS learned team camaraderie and composure will help them get better going forward with the season.
"We don't get down on each other when we make mistakes," said Jenkins-Day. "We keep it together."