The Motor City Cruise come out winners of two in a row and hungry for more. They had a chance to grab another over the Greensboro Swarm, who were in town for two games in three days.
Riding High on Momentum
The offense was aplenty in the early going in this one as both teams found some easy looks to stand in a 13-13 tie midway through the opening quarter. Motor Citygrabbed some momentum, finally, as they put together an 8-0 run to take a 23-15 lead with 4:48 left in the first. The Cruise defense wouldn’t break down late in the first, but they would still hold on to the lead heading into the second quarter, 32-27. Jared Rhoden was outstanding in the first quarter, leading Motor City with 10 early points.
Motor City had a hard time getting much going early in the second quarter as the Blue would hold a three-point advantage after going on a 16-8 run. The Cruise found themselves back in the lead late in the quarter after Keifer Sykes found his way in the lane for an easy bucket. It would be the team in red and blue holding a slim one-point lead heading into the half, 54-53. Oklahoma City’s offense kept them in the quarter to keep pace, limiting the Cruise offense.
Breakout Time
Whatever Coach Bakker told his team at the lead, it sure paid off. The Cruise came out roaring to start the third quarter on a 9-0 run to up their lead to double-digits (63-53). Greensboro cut the lead back to single digits with 5:12 remaining, but the Motor City offense continued to keep the pace. Motor City would put up a big quarter offensively as they held a 88-80 lead heading into the final quarter. Although the Cruise kept pace, the Swarm were able to get some things going offensively, led by James Bouknight (former UCONN standout) and Xavier Sneed. Jaylen Johnson was dominant in the quarter to lead Motor City with 15 points.
There is one thing that you had a sense of in this game, and that was the fact that the Cruise had some urgency behind them all night. That showed early again in the fourth as they would muster out an 8-2 run that put Greensboro on the ropes. Motor City wouldn’t take their foot off the pedal as a small run mid-fourth quarter gave the Cruise a 15-point lead with just 4:29 remaining. That was the back break for the Swarm as Motor City did not let up any momentum to close it out as they went on to take this one, 119-104.
The Numbers
Xavier Sneed led Greensboro with 22 points (3 three-pointers). Kobi Simmons played big minutes off the Swarm bench to finish with 17 points (3 three-pointers). James Bouknight added 14 points and 5 rebounds.
Ashton Hagans played a vital role off the Greensboro bench to pitch in 10 points and assists. Jaylen Sims added 9 points and 7 rebounds. Isaiah Whaley poured in 8 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Theo Maledon finished with 7.
What a night it was for Jaylen Johnson in a sort of coming out party as the big man led the Cruise with 31 points (11-16), 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Jared Rhoden was big with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals. Keifer Sykes finished the night with a double-double (16 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds).
Kyler Edwards was a huge spark off the Motor City bench with 15 points. Trayvon Palmer added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Ryan Turell continues to produce with his opportunities as he pitched in 9 points. Buddy Boeheim helped with 8.
Up Next
The two teams will have a chance to square off again on Wednesday night. Motor City has not won three in a row as they improve to 8-11. They still have some work to do, but you can tell that this is a team that continues to gel at the right time. They’ll have a chance to see if they can grab another win over the Swarm before they head into the All-Star break, which could be huge for the guys in red and blue. That game is scheduled for an early start of 11:00 AM at Wayne State Fieldhouse.
