FORT SILL, Okla. (March 19, 2015) -- Chadwick Kinch scored 24 points to lead the 434th Field Artillery Brigade to a 53-48 victory March 12 at Rinehart Fitness Center.
B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery fell despite 15 points apiece from Nicholas Mega and Austin Pierce "Chadwick was our floor general and continuously reminded and motivated his teammates throughout the season and the final game," said James Richardson, a 434th FA teammate. "He could take the outside shot or post up down low and did whatever needed to be done."
Rodrigus Gaddis hit a couple long jumpers, including a 3-pointer banked off the glass, early to ignite the field artillerymen and build an 8-3 lead.
Due to the 434th's height advantage, B/2-6 ADA countered with jump shots but couldn't lock on target until Meja hit the first of three treys he tallied on the night to close the gap to 9-7. Then, ADA stole a pass on the ensuing 434th possession leading to a Pierce break-away. But with a taller Kinch trailing close behind, Pierce, attempting to fake a shot, was called for traveling.
Moments later, Pierce made up for the miscue with his first 3-pointer as ADA took a 10-9 lead.
Austin Evans found himself in the right spot following a teammates' missed jumper when Cody Hamilton rebounded the ball but mishandled a pass that Evans intercepted and put back for an easy deuce.
Scoring went back and forth for the next few minutes until Kinch asserted himself. Probably the tallest player on the court, Kinch was listed as point guard on the roster, which could have said shooting guard. Three straight offensive possessions, Kinch rose up from beyond the top of the key hitting two 3-pointers. The second was a "Downtown Freddie Brown" type shot from way outside the arc. On his third attempt, Pierce was called for a foul, which proved fruitful for ADA as Kinch could only drop one of three free throws.
Despite this firepower, B/2-6 ADA continued to hang around as Evans breezed to a fast break layup to inch closer to the FA lead at 23-21.
But, the 434th answered with a fast break of their own on a long pass up court to Edwin Hernandez. The 434th FA center deflected the pass to Quincy Williams for an easy two pointer to boost the lead to 28-22, with 20 seconds left in the half.
Holding for the last shot, ADA milked the clock to a scant few seconds when Evans drove along the baseline. His shot didn't fall, but he drew a foul from Kinch.
As players for each team huddled for their coach's instructions at intermission, Evans stepped to the free throw line and calmly dropped both shots as ADA stayed close 28-24.
Like he did in the first half, Gaddis again fired up the 434th in the second stanza hitting two 3-pointers to increase the lead to eight points.
From there Kinch cinched victory with repeated baseline drives drawing fouls or making easy buckets underneath to maintain their lead.
To their credit, the ADA men fought on as Pierce hit a 3-point rim rattler then Mega also drained a couple jumpers from long distance.
One of Mega's mighty heaves came from inside the Fires logo near half court. Seems that should earn him free lunch at the Staff Sgt. Juan Garcia Dining Facility for a week?
But, time was on the side of the field artillerists as the final seconds ticked off. Pierce completed the scoring with a tip in closing out the 2015 intramural basketball schedule.
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