Josh Cradoct
The Tinker men’s varsity basketball team finished third in the Martin Luther King Jr. Tournament last weekend at Sheppard AFB, Texas.
It was the third time this season that the Tinker Hawks placed third in a non-conference tournament. The Hawks came in third in the Fall Ball of Champions Tournament at Little Rock, Ark., on Oct. 26. They also placed third in the Joe Hall Memorial Basketball Tournament at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Dec. 7-8.
In the double-elimination MLK Tournament, Tinker beat Offutt AFB by four points, 61-57, then whipped the Fort Sill Cannoneers by seven, 68-61. It marked the seventh consecutive time Tinker has beaten Offutt in basketball this season, and the fourth time this season that the Tinker Airmen bested the Fort Sill Soldiers.
In the Tinker-Offutt game, Jarail Smith scored 33 points, more than half of the Hawks’ total. Earl Moseby contributed 8; Corey Clark, 5; Deante Covington, Josh Cradoct and Brian Johnston, 4 apiece; Ryan Florie, 2; and Robert Lawrence, 1.
In their third game of the day Jan. 18, Tinker lost to the eventual tournament champions, Fort Carson, and the next morning the Hawks were trounced by Lackland AFB, winners of the consolation prize. Lackland also beat Tinker last month in the Joe Hall Tournament played on their home court.
The Hawks were plucked by Lackland, 85-63, on Jan. 19. Smith tallied 22 points; Moseby, 13; Clark, 9; Jumar “Mook” Reynolds, 6; Johnston, 5; Florie, Cradoct, Kelton Eddins and Joshua Richardson, 2 each. In comparison, Lackland had two players who scored 18 each and one who scored 16. The 22-point loss was the worst defeat Tinker has experienced this season
The Hawks are 20-8 overall (.714), and lead the eight-team Central U.S. Military Basketball Conference with a 14-2 record. The MLK was a dress rehearsal for the CUSMBC tournament to be held at Fort Sill in mid-March, since five of the seven teams that competed at Sheppard (Cannon AFB, Whiteman AFB, Offutt, Fort Sill and Tinker) are in the central military basketball league.