MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Behind the dominant performance of point guard Julius Johnson, Air Terminal walked away with a 58-34 victory over the Combat Service Support Detachment 36 Dragons during an intramural basketball game at the IronWorks Gym July 2.
Johnson finished the game with 17 points and 9 assists and brought his team?s season record to 7-1.
Air Terminal made a quick run and was leading 23-9 with 8 minutes and 12 seconds left in the half. However, following a quick time out the Dragons picked it up a notch as their power forward, Daniel Sawyer, and guard Selento Rockett worked to put 13 points on the board, making Air Terminal feel the Dragons fiery breath on the back of their necks as the half closed out 25-22.
The Dragons came out swinging in the second half, but Johnson had other ideas as he fired from downtown adding three to the Air Terminal?s score. Then without a second thought Rockett stepped up to the challenge matching Johnson?s three-pointer on the other end of the court, and had sparked a fire that was about to get out of control.
Almost as if Air Terminal was pulling out their secret weapon, Will Owens jumped in the game on fire and let loose four consecutive three-pointers and gave his team a 50-30 lead with 4 minutes and 8 seconds left in the game.
?As Dick Vitale says, ?There are prime time players? and that?s what I was going for,? said Owens. ?I saw what the team needed, so I stepped up to the plate and sealed the deal.?
Although the Dragons called a time-out and were able to slow Air Terminal?s offensive momentum, time was not on their side and before they could make a comeback it was all over, dropping their record to 6-3.
?They came out and hit some big threes,? said Sawyer. ?Offensively we didn?t collect ourselves when we should have.?
However, as Air Terminal walked away with the win, their spirits were understandably higher. ?The game started off a little bit slow,? said Johnson. ?In the beginning they put up a good fight, but we pulled it all together and once we started draining those threes they didn?t have a chance.?