Altus Patriots defeat Tinker Hawks 66-57 Published Feb. 5, 2008 By John E. Banks Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- The Patriots were victorious Sunday. Not the New England Patriots as many sports fans anticipated, but the Altus Air Force Base Patriots, who beat the Tinker Hawks 66-57 at Gerrity Fitness and Sports Center. The Patriots took an early 7- 4 lead behind the hot shooting guard Quincy Broughton. He split the Hawks defense at will and scored six of his team's first seven points. The Hawks rallied over the next three minutes to take 16-15 lead. Forward Tony Cohen, who poured in six points during the stretch, led the Hawks' attack. The Patriots retook the lead on successive fast break lay-ups by forward Keith Collard and guard Rashad Shelton. The remaining six minutes of the half saw each team make strides on the offensive end. The Patriots took a 34-28 lead into the intermission. "The defense we employed was our key to success in the first half," said Jacoy Owens, Patriots head coach. "The Patriots are smaller than the Hawks and we had to communicate effectively in order for our offense and defense to be fluent." In the second half, the Patriots took advantage of numerous Hawks' turnovers and built a sizeable 13-point advantage with 11 minutes remaining. Collard continued his domination on the offensive end by scoring eight points over a three-minute stretch. The Hawks rallied to get back into the contest. They outscored the Patriots 17-9 over the next five minutes and cut the lead to 59-54 with 2:37 remaining. Cohen and forward Gerard West both chipped in six points to lead the Hawks' surge. Reserve forward James Campbell also chipped in five points to help the Hawks cut into the lead. However, the Patriots converted costly turnovers into baskets and kept the Hawks at bay. "The turnovers were costly today," said Hawks head coach Clarence Griffin. "However, I was extremely pleased with the team' performance today." Cohen and West each had 14 points to lead the scoring attack for the Hawks. Collard, who scored 15 points, and Broughton, who chipped in 13, led the Patriots. "The performance of the Hawks was intense and impressive," Griffin said. "We had a great performance from James Campbell who scored eight points off the bench in a reserve role. That was huge for us. "We had some players in different positions and some players were not available due to injury. Overall, I would grade this performance as a successful one." The win improved the Patriots record to 11-8, while the loss dropped the Hawks to 3-7 on the season.