LANSING, Mich. - Mateen Cleaves is always up for a game. And with Flint’s Summer Pro Am League suspended for the holiday weekend, Cleaves drove to Lansing to team up with former U-D Titan Desmond Ferguson and lead Team Navy Blue to a 93-82 win over Team Royal Blue Saturday night in the Capital City Summer Pro League at Everett High School.

Cleaves, who finished with 21 points and seven assists, led Team Navy to an early 11-4 lead at the 16:21 mark of the first half using tough defense and precision passes to Ferguson, who finished with 18 points.

On defense Cleaves matched up against Toledo’s reigning MAC freshman of the year, Justin Ingrahm, who had 19 points of his own.

“Desmond, he was telling me he was starting a league,” Cleaves said. “Whatever Des does I want to be a part of because I know it’s going to be professional. I know it’s going to be good.

“I’ve been wanting to come up against some of these good Lansing boys. They can play too.”

Team Navy, which was playing without MSU freshman Goran Suton, opened up a 15-point lead midway through the first half, but Ingrahm and former Lansing Sexton star Ron Banks, who finished with a game-high 23 points, kept Team Royal within striking distance as they closed the lead to 42-35 at halftime.

In the second half Cleaves played aggressive defense sparking Team Navy and holding off Ingrahm, who seemed to gain more confidence playing against the stronger and more experienced Cleaves, as the game progressed.

Midway through the second half both teams got in a war of words, but for talkative Cleaves that’s commonplace.

“You know every time you come out here and you play in stuff like this you’re going to have to prove yourself,” Cleaves chuckled. “We don’t have any problem with doing that. We’ve been doing that - playing in the parks - our whole lives talking trash. But it’s all out of fun though. It’s not personal stuff. It’s all out of fun.”

In the end Team Royal, which played without MSU’s Chris Hill, didn’t have enough firepower to overcome the double-digit lead that Team Navy built up.

After the game Cleaves shook hands having earned a little ‘street cred’ playing in front of the Lansing locals. Cleaves is hoping to play in another CCPSL game this summer but he hopes to bring reinforcements from Flint.

“They can play,” Cleaves reiterated of the Lansing talent pool. “Yeah, Mo Pete was going to come this time but he had something to do with his family. We’ve got a lot of guys down there (in Flint). There’s some good basketball in Michigan right now. You can come to Lansing, Flint, Detroit, Saginaw - anywhere in Michigan, and it’s a good run.”

Ferguson, the League's co-Director, is less excited about his own play and more excited about the overall level of competition in the CCPSL.

“It’s more or less about the league and not about me,” said Ferguson. “I just like to see competitive guys like Mateen Cleaves in here when they get a chance. Get some names in here that people are familiar with so we can get this league real competitive.”

MSU freshman guard Drew Neitzel finished with 24 points and eight assists while big man Idong Ibok totaled 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks to pace Team Green in a 83-69 victory over Team White, which is comprised of the entire Alma College team.

Team Green, playing without MSU’s Paul Davis, started out with an emphatic alley-oop from Neitzel to super athlete Jason Franklin which drew oohs from the crowd.

Team White kept the game close in the game’s first eight minutes, but a 20-7 run by Team Green pushed the lead from 18-13 to 38-21 with 4:20 remaining in the first half.

Team White went on a run of its own in the second half to close Team Green’s 22-point halftime lead to 10 points with 7:40 remaining.

But at the urging of the crowd Team Green coach Rick Carter went to a 1-4-low offensive set with Neitzel, who is a crowd favorite in the CCSPL, isolated at the top of the key with all four teammates spread out in a straight line along the low block.

Neitzel took advantage of his playmaking ability to beat his man and put the game out of reach either scoring himself or finding an open teammate.

• Mateen Cleaves says that he is preparing to join the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics in hopes of making the team this fall. “I’m getting ready to leave for Seattle Tuesday,” he said. “So I’m working out with Seattle this summer.”

• Desmond Ferguson, who finished the season last year with the Portland Trailblazers, was picked up by the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA’s expansion draft, but that may not end up where Ferguson plays next year. “Actually I really haven’t heard from them,” he said of the Bobcats. “I guess I’m not going to play summer league so I don’t know what the future plans are. But as of July 1, I was a free agent and my agent is talking to other teams and everything. So I don’t really how that situation with the Bobcats is going to work out.”

• Next week the CCSPL is expected to be at full turnout from its participants. MSU players expected back are Alan Anderson, Paul Davis, Chris Hill, Drew Naymick and Goran Suton along with Neitzel and Ibok.

• Games, which are free of charge, will take place at Everett High School next Saturday and Sunday at 3:45 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For more information contact Director Desmond Ferguson (517-882-3674), Director Corie Muhammad (517-882-9917), League Administrator Rod Watts (517-214-8696) or Game Administrator Famoun Washington (517-927-7643).