The Motor City Cruise followed a monster performance by Jared Rhoden to open their regular season with a win.
Why It Matters For the Motor City Cruise
The Motor City Cruise kicked off the regular season with an inspiring 112-99 victory against the Grand Rapids Gold. The Cruise controlled both sides of the floor for the majority of the game in their road matchup.
First-year Cruise head coach Jamelle McMillan emphasized the need to see his team focus on defense and taking care of the ball. The Cruise held the Gold under 100 points along with creating 15 turnovers and only turned it over four times themselves. Motor City capitalized off those turnovers with 23 points of their own on their way to McMillan’s first career win as the Cruise head coach.
The Cruise made their presence felt most in the paint. They did a strong job of controlling the glass by grabbing 16 offensive rebounds against the Gold. Motor City also dominated the inside with 58 points in the paint.
Jared Rhoden had a standout performance for the Cruise dropping 36 points while grabbing 8 rebounds. Six different players scored in double-figures for the Motor City to help with their scoring balance.
Hunter Tyson led the way for the Gold scoring 24 points and grabbing 9 rebounds as well. Every other starter for Grand Rapids finished in double-digit scoring.
Motor City Cruise Vs. Grand Rapids Gold By the Numbers
Points In the Paint: Cruise – 58 Gold – 3
Turnovers: Cruise – 4 Gold – 15
Assists: Cruise – 24 Gold – 17
Steals: Cruise – 9 Gold – 2
Jared Rhoden: 36 points, 16-28 FGs, 8 rebounds
Zavier Simpson: 18 points, 8-17 FGs, 5 assists
Jontay Porter: 18 points, 6-17 FGs, 14 rebounds
Tosan Evbuomwan: 11 points, 5-11 FGs, 11 rebounds
Malcolm Cazalon: 11 points, 3-12 FGs, 7 assists
Buddy Boeheim: 11 points, 4-10 FGs, 3-6 3-point FGs
What’s Next?
The Cruise will begin preparation for their home opener on Tuesday against the Iowa Wolves at the Wayne State Fieldhouse.
