MOTOR CITY CHARGES THROUGH CLEVELAND

Head Coach DJ Bakker Receives 50^th Win of His Career (Showcase and Regular Season Combined)

DETROIT – The Motor City Cruise returned home for their final four games. They began their homestand taking on the Cleveland Charge for the first time in the 2022-23 regular season. Coming into today’s game, Motor City was only 0.5 games behind Raptors 905 (sixth seed in the Eastern Conference). The Cruise are currently in the hunt for a playoff spot, and a win would help them in the standings. The Motor City Cruise won today’s game over the Cleveland Charge with a score of 122-110.

After a-back and-forth first quarter, the Charge led 28-22. Nate Hinton carried Cleveland in the first quarter, after dropping 12 points to begin the game. However, Motor City responded. The Cruise went on a 9-0 run during the second quarter to take a 55-51 lead to end the first half. Ending the half, Nate Hinton led the Charge with 20 points. He shot 6-12 from the floor (6-9 beyond the arc) in the half alone. For the Cruise, Reggie Perry led the first half with 15 points. He shot 6-8 from the floor.

To finish the third quarter, Motor City would hold Cleveland to under 10 field goals in the quarter alone. Motor City shot 56.5% from the floor in the third (13-23). Cleveland only shot 40.9% (9-22). The Cruise closed out the third, holding Sharife Cooper to just three points in the third quarter. However, Sharife Cooper responded in the fourth, scoring 22 points in the quarter alone. But Cleveland could not complete their comeback.

Concluding today’s win for Motor City, Reggie Perry led the way with 27 points. He grabbed 12 rebounds to secure a double-double. Keifer Sykes and Stanley Umude followed up with 23 points each. Sykes shot 10-14 from the floor. Stanley Umude shot 6-10 beyond the arc.

For the Cleveland Charge, Sharife Cooper led the way with 32 points. Cooper now has scored 30 or more points scored in 10 games this season (showcase and regular season combined). Nate Hinton followed up with 26 points after shooting 7-15 from the floor (6-10 beyond the arc). Lastly, Mamadi Diakite scored 22 points for the Charge, respectfully.

The Motor City Cruise improved to 15-14 and the Cleveland Charge fell to 14-14. With today’s win, Head Coach DJ Bakker officially received his 50^th G League career win (showcase and regular season combined). The Motor City Cruise are set to take on the Westchester Knicks at Wayne State Field House. Tip-off is slated for 3:00pm EST on Saturday March 18. The game can be seen on “The PREP” live stream at https://www.theprepsports.com/ and at https://gleague.nba.com/.