Marine Corps Base Quantico’s Bulldogs Men’s Varsity Basketball Team played their season opener against Joint Base Anacostia at Barber Physical Activity Center on Jan. 5.

Last year, the Bulldogs finished the regular season in second place. This time around, the Bulldogs aimed to clinch their third title in four years, but Anacostia was determined to deprive them of that glory.

In the first four minutes of the game both teams’ defenses were running the show. Any attempt to get into the paint or less-than-perfect passes resulted in turnovers. Midway through the first half, through persistence and the ability to consistently steal the ball, Anacostia went on an 8-0 run.

With Anacostia pulling away, the Bulldogs began to try to close the gap by attacking the boards and drawing easy fouls. Anacostia didn’t let that deter them though. They began making 3-point shots, keeping their lead late into the first half. However Anacostia began making careless errors which didn’t please their coach in the slightest.

With two minutes left, the Bulldogs came back and took the halftime lead, 32-28.

“Relax out there,” said Anthony Clark, head coach for Anacostia. “You have to stop just running around and actually run the play. You all are being reckless and doing too much right now, so let’s get it together.”

Anacostia didn’t hesitate to bring some authority into the start of the second half. They came out with back-to-back dunks and multiple three-pointers. It was just a matter of time before they finally tied the game. As Anacostia founds its groove, the Bulldogs began having problems getting the ball in the basket. Anacostia took advantage of the situation, taking an eight-point lead.

Anacostia was on a roll, so much so that one of their players lost his shoe during a possession and, instead of putting it back on, threw it into the stands and attempted to keep playing.

With three minutes left, the Bulldogs changed their strategy and started double teaming the Anacostia players. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they were already in too deep to dig themselves out, losing 69-62.

“Honestly, it was a raggedy game,” said Jelani Nix, assistant head coach for the Bulldogs. “It shows that, coming off of the holiday break, we definitely need to get back into the grove of things and really practice. But as time goes on, and we begin to gel as a team, things will get a whole lot better for us.”