Malmstrom A men's basketball team wins Fall Classic

  • Published
  • By Valerie Mullett
  • 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Two teams from Malmstrom Air Force Base along with one team each from Nellis AFB, Nev., and Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, spent the weekend, Sept. 28 to 30, pounding the hardwood courts during the inaugural Fall Classic Basketball Tournament here. 

"I wanted to put together an event where the base basketball team could play in front of the home crowd," said Aharon Goins, forward for the Malmstrom "A" team and event organizer. "I also wanted to provide the rest of Team Malmstrom the chance to come out and support their fellow co-workers and friends." 

Malmstrom "A" and Malmstrom "B" went head-to-head in the kick off game Friday night while the other two teams were traveling to get here. 

It was a pretty evenly matched competition with the "A" squad coming out on top, 68-60, led by Goins with 18 points. Forward Marcus Peters topped all scorers on the "B" squad with 16. 

Saturday morning featured a children's clinic where players spent some time teaching the younger hoop fans the tricks of their trade. 

Action got underway at 1 p.m. when Malmstrom "A" took on the Gunfighters from Mountain Home. Guard Leon Grier stole the show, knocking down five from 3-point range to contribute to his game-high 21 points and push the "A" squad to victory, 68-47. 

Immediately following, Nellis and the Malmstrom "B" squad took the floor in what proved to be a defensive battle. Using all their team fouls in the first half and five in the second half, the "B" squad did their best to stave off the visitors. In the end, Nellis pulled away for a 53-42 win. 

Without taking a breather, the "B" squad then faced Mountain Home for another defensive contest. But four 3-pointers by the Gunfighters in the first half added to their 9-point cushion at halftime when they led 34-25. Coming back after the break, the "B" squad got aggressive, outscoring their opponents 27-25. It wasn't enough to make up the 9-point margin and the Gunfighters took the game 59-52. 

Next up was the "A" squad against Nellis in what would later prove to be the championship game pairing. Grier was again hot from 3-point land nailing five treys that contributed to his 20 points. Goins and guard Rafael Spears each scored 11 but Nellis proved to be too much, handing the "A" squad their first loss, 67-60. 

This time it was Nellis who played back-to-back games as they were pitted against the Gunfighters in a 7 p.m. showdown which was also evenly matched. Nellis took the 62-57 win. 

At the end of the first two days of round-robin competition, Nellis remained the only unbeaten squad heading in to Sunday's final rounds. 

First up in an early morning meeting at 8:30 a.m., Nellis and the Malmstrom "B" squad prepared to do battle. The squad that traveled the furthest was rested and ready to play as all 10 players contributed buckets, with half of the team scoring in double digits. 

Nellis took control of the first playoff game, handing the "B" squad a 105-58 thrashing and sending them to the stands in the single-elimination championship round. 

The Malmstrom "A" team took to the floor next to do virtually the same thing to the Gunfighters. Spears was a one-man show for the "A" squad racking up an impressive 34 points for the game. Grier netted another 25 and Goins was close behind with 23. The "A" squad was moving on to the finals with a 103-76 victory. 

In a classic, hard-fought championship game, with the winner taking home the trophy and the bragging rights, Nellis and the "A" squad squared off. Stepping it up right from the start, 3-point land saw a lot of action from the Malmstrom players as Grier and Spears each knocked down a pair and teammates Jamie Poston, Ralphael Bell and Charles Flanagain each contributed one. At the halftime break, Malmstrom was ahead 48-37. 

Not to be outdone, Nellis players decided to try their luck with the treys and found the net four times while the "A" squad opted to play it safe. In the end, their strategy worked as they held on for an 89-83 victory, earning them the title. Spears led all scorers with 22 and Goins pitched in another solid performance with 20. 

"The tournament was good and the competition was tough," sad James Wright, coach of the Nellis team. "I would have liked to compete against a few more teams, but this was a good tournament." 

According to Goins, more teams had originally planned to attend the event, but had to cancel for a variety of reasons. 

In all, he thinks the tournament was a success and he hopes to have more in the future. 

"You always want more, but I was pretty much satisfied," Goins said afterward. "I do feel the event was a success not only because we got to showcase our basketball talents, but we got to spread the word about the good things that can be done with the support of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws committee. They provided us with the funds to pay for our referees." 

The event was also sponsored, in part, by the African-American Heritage Association.