Spangdahlem varsity basketball teams score big in tourney Published April 3, 2013 By Tech. Sgt. Kenya Shiloh 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs STUTTGART, Germany -- The Men's and Women's Saber Varsity Basketball teams took second place at the 2013 U.S. Forces Europe Basketball Championship in Stuttgart, Germany, March 21-24, 2013. Teams from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps competed for first-place honors at the biggest military sporting event in the European theater. According to Tony Lee, tournament director from Dallas, a total of 15 men's varsity teams coming from as far as Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, and six women's teams played in the double elimination tournament spanning three different locations in the Stuttgart area. "The tournament started back in 1993 as a friendly wager between the Army and the Air Force about which service had the better team," Lee said. "It was called Final Four at that time but has since then evolved to bring all the services together for esprit de corps. The teams come here for four days to battle each other for bragging rights, but when it's time to go down range, its one team." James Lewis, player-coach for the Sabers and assistant coach for the Lady Sabers, from Atlanta, said this has been one of the better tournaments he's played in so far. With Ramstein and Wiesbaden labeled the favorites to win, Lewis and his teammates' focus was to remove them from the competition, which was no small feat. According to Lewis, his team came together and played as one cohesive unit. "We've come a long way since the beginning of the season," Lewis said. "The last two tournaments that we played in, we didn't place at all, so I'm very proud of our accomplishment." The Sabers had a near-perfect record of 9-1 in the tournament, losing to Stuttgart, in the first round before earning their way to the final round. In order to regain their momentum, they had to rethink their strategy by rotating their players more frequently. RAF Lakenheath edged them out 55-50 in the championship game. The Lady Sabers found themselves in a similar situation going into the championship round. Standing in their way was their biggest competition of the season and number one seed, the Wiesbaden Varsity Women's Basketball team. Wiesbaden took home the first place trophy beating out Spangdahlem 53-48 in the championship game. Spangdahlem finished the tournament with an 8-2 record, defeating several teams in double overtime to advance to the championship game. "Even though we didn't get number one, we're still proud of how we came together and played as a team," said Shameka Thompson, a Lady Sabers power forward from Chapel Hill, N.C., "As long as we continue to communicate and play good defense, we will be unstoppable in future tournaments." Both teams presented their trophies to Col. David Julazadeh, 52nd Fighter Wing commander from Chillacothe, Ill., during a private ceremony April 2, 2013.