The last time the Jungaleers finished undefeated in the PSL portion of their schedule, it would be the 2010-2011 eventually city championship season with a perfect 10-0 record. Southeastern, currently 8-0 in the East Division of the league, took another step in the right direction for claiming PSL superiority with 49-41 win of West Division leader Renaissance on Saturday at Detroit Western, part of the DPS makeup games that were cancelled a few weeks ago due to the recent snow storms in Southeast Michigan.
It was a traditional PSL retro slugfest between the Jungaleers and Renaissance, with only 17 points being scored in the first quarter alone, and even more surprising than that, the first bucket of the 2nd quarter didn’t come until the 4:25 mark. Recent Florida A&M offeree Leonard Harper-Baker paced SE in the first half with 7 points, including a buzzer beating three to give the Jungaleers a 16-15 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the only time Reniassance would lead for the rest of the game would be when they held a 20-17 advantage with 4:34 left in the third. A key part for the Phoenix in gaining the lead was the play of star sophomore guard Justin Turner. Turner was man amongst boys in the half-court set, he hit a few contested three-pointers, had his mid-range game working, and finished through contact at the rim for a couple of and-one opportunities. Turner led Renaissance in scoring with a game high 26 points, with 10 coming in the third quarter alone, and was a solid defender all game long coming away with four steals.
The closest Renaissance would get in the fourth quarter would be a 30-28 defect with 7:00 left to go in the final period. But Southeastern’s tradition man-to-man defense did just enough to slow down Turner, limiting him to only seven points, and coasting to the victory via the charity stripe.
Southeastern’s season started out 0-5, but have climbed back to over .500 who are now guaranteed at least a share of the East Division title, and can lock the division up outright with a win at Detroit Douglass on Tuesday. Also, Southeastern is now guaranteed the number one seed in the PSL playoffs that start next Friday. The difference in the December version’s of Southeastern and the Southeastern of January with wins coming over Cass Tech, Pershing, and Renaissance this week has been the play of their starting senior forwards and brothers Leonard Harper-Baker and Darryl Bingham.
Harper Baker led SE with 14 points, and eight rebounds, while Bingham chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds. “It feels very good.” said Bingham after the win vs. Renaissance. “In the Cass and Pershing games, me and my brother (Harper-Baker) had to prove we were better than Cass and Pershing”
Another key in Southeastern’s development as a well-rounded team has been the play of sophomore guard Ean Blackwell. Ean had some large shoes to fill at the beginning of the season, stepping in for four-year varsity point guard Kenyatta Singleton, who graduated last year. Senior Darryl Bingham, notes the increased production of Blackwell, has garnered increased success in Southeastern.
“Well he is getting used to playing with large crowds,” Darryl noted, “that was the biggest issue of him, not playing in front of large crowds, I’m proud of him.”
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Tags: Detroit Renaissance, Detroit Southeastern
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