Hawks trade blows with Fort Sill Published Feb. 11, 2010 By John Stuart Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Although Saturday's game was a narrow numerical victory for the Hawks, it was perhaps reason for their downfall on Sunday -- the proverbial waking of the sleeping Fort Sill giant. The Hawks came away with a close 86-81 win Feb. 6 against the Cannoneers, but it proved a pyrrhic victory for Tinker. Seemingly using all their energy on Saturday, they left none for Sunday's matchup where they all but handed over the keys to the city in a painful 89-65 loss. Hawks 86 Fort Sill 81 Tinker was fighting from behind with a several-point deficit nearly the whole game on Saturday. Pitted against the tall and aggressive Cannoneers, the Hawks had to come out firing on all cylinders. They trailed Fort Still 40-34 at the half, and had failed to hold a lead. With Fort Sill boasting a lineup of tall players, the man defensive coverage Tinker fielded wasn't a good matchup, coach Clarence Griffin said. But it was the only option Tinker had, as the zone proved ineffective early on. "We wanted to adjust our defense but we had to go exclusively man," Griffin said. "I wanted to do some other things in there but we really had to pressure them and keep the game moving so they wouldn't have the opportunity to score. Size-wise they have a lot of big players and we don't match up well, but we sit there and we defend and Saturday that was what we had to do." With help from a standout performance by Jerail Smith, who netted a season high 27 points, the Hawks came alive in the final ten minutes and scored 40 points to Fort Sill's 25. Phil Hawthorne also chipped in with 17 points for the day, and Brandon Collier put up 14 of his own. With three minutes remaining the Hawks took the lead and sank their teeth in. "We were able to get some rebounds and some travels and that's kind of what turned the game around in the last few minutes," Griffin said. "And they had to adjust their game because some of their players were in foul trouble." The day narrowly went to Tinker 86-81, but the giant was awakening. Fort Sill 89 Hawks 65 The old playground adage "You started it, but I'm going to finish it" came to mind on Sunday, as Tinker showed up to seemingly avoid defeat, and Fort Sill to defend their honor. Honor, it seems, was the bigger motivator, and the scoreboard didn't lie. With a lackluster game by Tinker, where Fort Sill dominated every dimension, the Hawks went down hard in an 89-65 loss and increased their losing streak to 1-3 against the league juggernauts. Initially Griffin was at a loss of words for Tinker's performance. Then, he found some, through a tangible tone of grief. "Sunday was just a horrible game," he said. "We earned every bit of that defeat. I don't know if I want to expand on it, but there was a lack of teamwork. The effort just wasn't there." Whether it was truly a teamwork failure or whether Fort Sill holds special Kryptonite powers over the Tinker men's and women's teams remains a mystery. Either way the losses are hard to stomach. It was clear which way the game was going in the first few minutes, Griffin said, as Fort Sill outscored Tinker 27-13 in the first 10 minutes. At the half it was 47-35, and Tinker wouldn't get close again. Tinker rolled out a 1-3-1 zone to rein in the tall squad, but defensive execution was a problem. "They have shooters and you really can't fall off of anyone and because of their size boxing out is the key," Griffin said. "You have to really box out and keep them away from the basket." Fort Sill earned too many baskets on the rebound fast break as well, Griffin said. "That hurt us because we in fact gave up too many easy baskets not getting back on defense," he said. "There were lots of cases when we were out manned. But not getting back on defense did hurt us." Nate Carter and Kirk Sheppard were the high scorers on the day, with 16 and 15 points respectively. Carter's tally was aided by his four three pointers, with three of those falling in the first four minutes of the second half. But Tinker doesn't have much time to put their legs up for lengthy reflection. It's time to go to work for the Hawks, as they'll be on the road for the next three weekends against Little Rock AFB, McConnell AFB and Whiteman AFB.