VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Marine Corps Air Station Miramar men’s varsity basketball team traveled to Vandenberg Air Force Base for a three-game set against teams from the Armed Forces Varsity Basketball League, in preparation for the Western Regional Armed Forces Championship.

 The team first squared off against their San Diego counterparts from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

 Miramar established their rhythm early as they found holes in the MCRD defense, allowing them to drive to the goal and take high-percentage shots from beyond the arc. Along with a high-powered offense, Miramar’s shut-down defense accounted for 21 points as a result of nine MCRD turnovers.

 Miramar forward Staff Sgt. Derrick Love and guard Cpl. Stefawn Payne, accounted for more than 25 first-half points and assisted in Miramar taking a 41-23 lead at half time.

 Miramar, sitting on an 18-point lead, never slowed down their high-speed offense. The team extended their lead to as much as 25 points, proving to be too much for MCRD.

 The offense tallied more than 40 points off of turnovers and fast breaks while their defense accounted for more than 15 MCRD turnovers and four blocked shots.

 In the end, Miramar would watch the clock tick down to zero as they defeated MCRD 76-45.

 “We played a very good game, considering we haven’t been playing together for a long time,” Miramar head coach James Stewart said to his team after the game. “We still have two games to go against very good teams and we need to stay focused.”

 Later that afternoon, Miramar would face off against an equally talented team from Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

 Travis AFB set the pace for the game as they jumped to an early eight-point lead, forcing coach Stewart to use two timeouts early in the game.

 “This game is forty minutes long,” said Stewart. “We can’t slow down, even for a minute, against a team who can move the ball and shoot just a well as we can.”

 Despite Miramar’s efforts to deter the Hawks offense, the Hawks held onto a five point lead in the second half, giving them the win over Miramar 77-72.

 “We played a good team and all of us gave every ounce of energy we had,” said Cpl. Micah Parsons, a Miramar forward who scored his first double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds. “It’s disappointing to lose, but I’m pretty confident that we are going to do good things in the future.”

 The next morning, coming off of the loss to the Hawks, Miramar took the court and squared off against Vandenberg AFB, another team they will play against in the regional championship tournament.

 “Vandenberg is another solid team with players who can move the ball well,” said Sgt. Douglas Pippen, a Miramar guard. “Like our coach always tells us, it’s a 40-minute ball game and we can’t slow down.”

 From the opening tip-off, the Vandenberg offense forced Miramar into bad situations, pressuring them to take low-percentage shots and make bad passes.

 Miramar found consistency in the 18-minute mark of the first half as Payne and Love made several shots early on, to give Miramar a 26-21 lead half way through the first half.

 “We still have 20 minutes left to play in this game,” said Stewart. “We have to stay consistent and patient with the ball in order to beat this team.”

 Within the first five minutes of the second half, Miramar only made one out of eight shots, allowing Vandenberg to come within three points.

 In the end, Miramar fell to Vandenberg 80-87, marking their second loss of the weekend.

 Coach Stewart, after the game, patted all of his players on the back and told everyone “I saw a team (Miramar) who put their hearts into this game and you played the best I’ve seen you play yet.”

 Miramar is scheduled to compete in a tournament at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Feb. 15 through Feb. 19.