Motor City would be right back on the road on Saturday taking a trip to Wisconsin to take on the Herd, the G-League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. They would come up just short, but it’s another game where you can truly see the grit of this team.
Buckle Up
This one would get off to a wild back and forth start on Saturday night. The Cruise would come out and grab some early momentum, opening up an 8-0 lead just minutes into the game. That would change in a hurry, however. The Herd, in a flurry, would put together a huge run of their own. They would put together a 16-2 run take grab the lead. Just when it was looking like this one might get out of hand for the Cruise, they would storm back in the waning minutes of the 1st to take a 38-34 lead heading into the 2nd quarter. Get your popcorn ready, it looks like we would be in for a Saturday night thriller.
This one would become an absolute battle in the 2nd. The teams would go back and forth without either really gaining much of a lead. Both offenses were able to stay hot throughout the first half. UCLA product, Jules Bernard, would lead much of the scoring. He would score 12 of the Cruise’s 29 points in the quarter. Motor City would head into the half down but locked in a tight one, 67-69.
Finding A Way
The hometown Herd would come out and set the scoring pace early in the 2nd half. They would open the 3rd quarter on a 10-2 run to build their lead to double-digits early in the half. Wisconsin would control most of the quarter and build their lead to 105-91 heading to the final quarter of play.
Motor City would be forced to try and find a way to pull this one out, and would they ever. The Cruise would open the quarter strong putting together an 11-2 run in the first two minutes of the 4th. It would be just a 107-102 game to this point. They would fight all the way back to take the lead about midway through the quarter. Neither team would build leads to more than two points down the stretch, and the fans would get some free basketball as we were headed to overtime knotted at 128 a piece.
Overtime would find both teams struggling to score a bit. RJ Nembhard Jr. tried to will his team to victory, scoring all the points in the extended period, but it just wasn’t enough. The Cruise would regain the lead about midway through the extra time but just weren’t able to hold on. Wisconsin would take this one, 135-133.
The Numbers
Smooth shooting Buddy Boeheim had his best game of his young pro career. Boeheim would put up 25 points in this one and going 7 of 14 from three. He would add 10 rebounds. Kyler Edwards missed just one shot on the night, putting up 20 points in the process. RJ Nembhard Jr. had 19 points and 7 assists. Braxton Key would have a near triple-double on the night. Jules Bernard continues to be a viable option off the bench; he would go for 14 points on the night. ShawnDre Jones, Jaylen Johnson, and Stanley Umude all combined for 28 points. The Cruise would shoot lights out in this one by shooting 50% from the field and three-point range on the night.
Jontay Porter had a monster game off the bench for the Herd. He would go for 30 points and 6 rebounds on the night. Jordan Bone and Lindell Wigginton both pitched in 16 points apiece and 7 assists apiece. Joe Wieskamp put up 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Sandro Mamukelashvili was a force down low for the Herd. He would pitch in 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Rob Edwards, Ibou Badji, and Elijah Hughes put up a combined 32 points to help in the victory. Wisconsin was able to force the Cruise into 16 turnovers on the night while committing just n turnovers themselves.
Next Up
Wisconsin will move to 2-3 on the season. They were able to fend off a gritty Motor City Team. The Cruise will now move to 1-3 on the season. If there’s anything we are finding out about this Cruise team is the fact that they will battle for all four quarters. They’ll look to respond when these two battle again at Oshkosh Arena on Tuesday night with a start time of 7:00.
