Summerville Ignites Late Surge as Sexton Stuns Cass Tech, 86–81

Keyshawn Summerville with his player of the game trophy Saturday night. Photo by Travis Long | TBM Team

The penultimate game in the Moneyball Tip-Off Classic featured two big-name teams: The Lansing Sexton J-Dubbs and the Cass Tech Technicians. The Technicians got out to a hot start in the first, but never entirely separated from the J-Dubbs, leading 21-18 with around a minute left in the first quarter. Through the second quarter Cass Tech continued to hold the lead and built defensive momentum, heading to the locker rooms up 38-33 At the start of the third quarter, Cass Tech began to pull away, leading 45-36 with 4:45 left. But the J-Dubbs fought back hard, and Keyshawn Summerville turned up the heat. With under 2 minutes left in the third, down 51-43, Summerville cashed in two huge threes for the J-Dubbs. Seemingly unstoppable offensive momentum had the J-Dubbs head into the fourth quarter on a 14-2 run. At the start of the fourth quarter, both teams continued the back-and-forth fight. Sexton's Zion Mathis hit a three-pointer to go up 60-53, but the Technicians rallied and brought it to a three-point game. No team could hold on to any momentum, and the points kept piling up. With 3:08 left in the game, Sexton up 70-69, a foul sent the Technicians to the free-throw line, and they took back the lead for the first time in the quarter. 

Amari Warthem of Cass Tech heads to the bench during the second quarter, exchanging high-fives with teammates. Photo by Travis Long | TBM Team

The two heavyweights continued trading blows until the final minute left in the game, tied 78-78, when Sexton's Keyshawn Summerville drove down the court and nailed a huge three - with the foul! He completed the four-point play to put the J-Dubbs up 82-78. Cass Tech's Stevie Hall returned the favor by driving down and hitting a tough contested layup and drawing the foul, which he cashed in at the line, bringing it to a one-point game with 9 seconds remaining.

Mario Murray prepares to shoot a free throw Saturday night. Photo by Travis Long | TBM Team

Sexton inbounded the ball to Keyshawn Summerville, who subsequently got poked in the eye, causing a Technical Foul to be called on Cass Tech. Summerville sinks both of them at the line to go up 84-81. And instead of fireworks, the next Cass Tech possession ended in travesty as a wild pass landed in Summerville's hands. While dribbling the clock out, an on-court skirmish broke out, resulting in another Technical that sent Summerville to the line. He sank both, and Sexton walked away with the 86-81 victory. Lansing Sexton proves they can continue to compete with high-level opponents after their season-opener 73-58 loss to East Lansing (3-0). The J-Dubbs will get a rematch of that game on the 26th of December, but now look ahead to take control of the CAAC White with a game against Lansing Catholic on the 16th. For Cass Tech, this is their first loss of the year after the Technicians opened the season with a 3-0 stretch. Cass Tech plays West Bloomfield tomorrow and looks to stay in the top rankings as a contender.

Keyshawn Summerville confers with teammate Willie Brown during a break in play Saturday. Photo by Travis Long | TBM Team

Player of the Game: Keyshawn Summerville - Sexton #1

The Senior Guard continues to be dominant on the court, putting up 25 in the huge upset win against Cass Tech. This follows up on his similarly dominant performance over Conference opponent Portland, which played on Thursday.