The Orangemen won an intramural basketball game against the Warriors 51-42 Feb. 4 at Smith Fitness Center.
After trailing the Warriors the entire first half, the Orangemen took control of the game in the final five minutes.
The Warriors of the Warrior Transition Battalion got off to a quick start, with Patrick Barnes and Darius Brown scoring in the first minute in the game, to take a 5-0 lead. The Orangemen of 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, answered with two baskets, but the
Warriors' defense held them to 29-20 at the half.
The Warriors increased their lead to 36-24 in the second half, but the Orangemen slowly came back to close the deficit to one point with seven minutes remaining. A basket and a slam dunk by Orangemen's Reggie Kennedy gave the team a three-point lead with five minutes left on the clock but the Warriors' Greg Clever tied the score at 42. In the final minutes of the game, the Orangemen reclaimed the lead to seal the 51-42 win.
The Orangemen's Kennedy led the scoring with a game-high with 21 points, while Barnes had a team-high 14 points for the Warriors.
"The other team played hard," Kennedy said. "It was a close game, but we were able to turn it around for the win."
Orangemen coach Ernest Borden said the team came out sluggish and allowed too many easy points in the first half.
"We didn't press as much as we should have in the first half," he said. "The other team was getting easy shots and walking up the court. At halftime, I told the guys to pick up the intensity and reminded them that we were down, but the other team would run out of gas."
Borden said the team focused on defense in the second half, alternating the presses from 1-3-1, 2-2-1 and man defense.
The win boosted the Orangemen to 7-0.
"Being undefeated and having teams say we are the team to beat is a beautiful thing, but we still have work to do," Borden said.
His goal - take the Commander's Cup title at the end of the season.
Scoring: Orangemen: Kennedy (21), Brown(15), Adams (13), Manley (2). Warriors: Barnes (14), Brown (10), Show (10), Christian (6), Clever (2).
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