Scribbled upon the blackboard in the locker room of the Huntsville Flight before their game against the first place Charleston Lowgators was the following:
"FIND A WAY TO WIN"- Coach Ralph Lewis
Two-hours and 28 minutes later on this March night; the Flight, coach Lewis, and the 1,782 in attendance at the Von Braun Center can thank one man in March for those words to hold true -- point guard Mateen Cleaves.
In the game against the Lowgators, as he did throughout his distinguished Michigan St. career (he led the Spartans to the NCAA Final Four two times and won the championship in 2000), Cleaves demonstrated his penchant for the big play when his team needed it most. And somehow, he found a way to get it done.
It was three-fold:
First came with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter and his team down by a point, after teammate Erick Barkley got his hands on a pass. Barkley caused the ball to trickle its way towards the sidelines and another potential possession for the Lowgators, but out of nowhere came the hustling 6'1 guard.
Cleaves picked up the ball while he was jumping out-of-bounds to save himself from landing on a patron and his $2.50 popcorn. And from the corner of his eye, Mateen spotted an open Rod Grizzard on the opposite side of the court.
As he did during his prep days as an All-State quarterback in Flint (MI), Cleaves displayed his rifle right arm with a laser-like precision pass that Grizzard corralled. The end result: a three-pointer that gave the Flight a two-point lead.
"That play was all about hustle, heart, and determination," said Cleaves' teammate, Rick Apodaca. "He gets the job done, no matter what the situation is."
Second fold, with the Flight down 102-99 and 17.6 seconds left in the contest, Cleaves took the ball and coach Lewis let his playmaker create with an isolation play from the top of the key. The end result -- Cleaves knocked home an off-balance three-pointer with 11.6 seconds left tied the game at 102-all.
What made this shot remarkable was the fact that Charleston point guard Tierre Brown blanketed him much like a Bruce Bowen would do on a shot.
"I want to take that shot, with the game on the line," said Cleaves on his decision to pass up an open Grizzard on the left wing for his three-point shot. "I love to pass, but at that time, I knew this is my time, winning time, and if it missed, I can hold my head high and said I gave it my all."
And now for the third and final fold to this tale: On the ensuing possession and with the game now tied, the tables were turned. Brown had the ball with precious few seconds ticking away in this hard-fought contest, and Cleaves was doing his best Bowen impersonation.
Brown takes one jab step to the right with the ball, Cleaves didn't bite. The clock now read 8 seconds, Brown tries again, this time to the left side and Cleaves is waiting there for him. Cleaves strips the ball and as the ball hits the floor, "winning time" goes down on the floor, corrals the ball, and much like on his pass to Grizzard earlier in the quarter, he fires a rocket to Apodaca.
The clock now reads 6 seconds. Apodaca finds a streaking Marcus Fleming on the left side of the court. And with 3.9 seconds left in the contest, at a time when banks are normally closed, it was open for Fleming, his team, and coach Lewis on this March night.
The end result: Huntsville 104, Charleston 102.
As Flight center Ken Johnson put after the game, "Mateen is big-time."
The blackboard couldn't have put it any better
