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Team Takeover (DC) 71, Howard Pulley Panthers (MN) 55

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Team Takeover opened its play in Minnesota on Memorial Day Weekend by defeating the local favorite, Howard Pulley, 71-55. This is the fourth and final weekend stop on the EYBL tour before Peach Jam in July, which will come during the live recruiting period when college coaches can be out.



 
Team Takeover pushed its record to 2-0 in Minnesota, and 11-3 overall on the Nike EYBL circuit, with a 66-51 victory over Kentucky Travelers on Saturday night.

V.J. King, the five-star recruit from Paul VI in Fairfax, scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, canning mid-range jumpers and converting from deep to help set the tone. D.J. Harvey added 17 in the win.

King's PVI teammate, Class of 2016 forward and University of Pittsburgh pledge Corey Manigault, made an impact. Manigault came up just short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

Two other Virginia products - Westfield forward Tyler Scanlon and Henrico do-everything wing De'Monte Buckingham - contributed as well. This is only Buckingham's second EYBL session as he missed the first two recovering from knee surgery.
 
Dropping to 2-1 in Minnesota and 11-4 overall on the Nike EYBL scene, Team Takeover suffered a lopsided 70-46 loss to City Rocks out of New York. At the half, Takeover trailed 39-23, though it was not a must-win situation for the Washington, D.C. based travel team considering it has already secured a spot in July's Peach Jam, the EYBL Finals in front of college coaches in North Augusta, SC.

Six-foot-4 Andrew Platek from the Class of 2017 led the way for City Rocks with 20 points, draining 6-of-15 from three-point territory. Stafford Truehart (6-foot-7) added 15 points on the Maple Grove court.

For Takeover in defeat, Westfield forward Tyler Scanlon was the lone bright spot with 12 points.

City Rocks enjoyed a 39-34 advantage on the boards and shot 49% from the field, while Takeover was cold all game, hitting just 29% of its field goal attempts. Uncharacteristically, Takeover also committed 18 turnovers from 10 different players.
 
Now 12-4 overall on the EYBL regular season tour, Team Takeover prevailed over Southern Stampede from Georgia by a count of 75-63 in Maple Grove, Minnesota on Sunday night. Coach Keith Stevens' squad now pushes its record to 3-1 on Memorial Day Weekend.

It was a balanced attack for Takeover in its latest win as five-star recruit V.J. King filled the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. To aid the Paul VI star, D.J. Harvey also cored 15 points and forward Corey Manigault, who is committed to play his College Basketball at Pittsburgh, ended up with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Off the bench, two-time State Player of the Year De'Monte Buckingham from Henrico supplied 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 2-for-3 from behind the three-point line. Buckingham also had a couple of assists.

Takeover, which led 41-25, bludgeoned Southern Stampede 42-29 on the glass. They also converted 80% of their free-throw attempts.

In the loss for Southern Stampede, Jatarious Smith scored 20 points.
 
Team Takeover has concluded regular season play in the Nike EYBL at 12-5 overall, going 3-2 in Minnesota on Memorial Day Weekend before some time off during the month of June. They closed out the weekend with an 80-62 loss to New Jersey Playaz in a game where they trailed 39-32 at the half.

Class of 2016 guard Myles Powell put on a show with 28 points, converting 10-of-16 field goal attempts and 5-for-9 from three-point territory. Taurean Thompson added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

For Team Takeover in the loss, Chris Lykes had 13 points. Five-star recruit V.J. King of Paul VI contributed 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Takeover was out-rebounded 37-22, while NJ Playaz made 59% of their field goal tries and 81% at the charity stripe.

Takeover will be back in action in July at Peach Jam in North Augusta, SC. They won the first ever EYBL back in 2010.
 
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