(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
On Arizona State University’s senior night, emotions ran high through The Bank. De’Quon Lake and Zylan Cheatham took the court for the final time in Tempe and helped the Sun Devils past the University of California Bears by a final score of 69-59.
When the game first tipped, it meant more to the roster than just another home game. Yes, it was the 2019 team’s final home appearance but, more than that, it was the last act for Cheatham, arguably their biggest contributor this season.
“You could tell how much this meant to Zylan and Lake,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “These games are really tricky and difficult when you add something special to the game.”
For it being Cheatham’s final game in Tempe, the Sun Devils came out of the gate perhaps a bit clouded in the emotion of the evening. The Bears, a team yet to win a game in conference play, outrebounded the Devils 8-2 before the first media time out and put up three times as many shots as ASU did.
It was an organized disaster. A disaster because it looked, at least for a moment, like the Bears were taking control of the game. But, organized in that the Sun Devils were simply overcomplicating the game intentionally. They wanted to win for their seniors.
“We weren’t going to let (a loss) happen,” ASU guard Remy Martin said. “We couldn’t let that happen.”
As the halftime whistle blew, and the Devils left the court, they were letting it happen. ASU trailed heading to the locker room 34-28.
“I gave a quick speech. You can ask them what I said,” Hurley said of the halftime pep-talk. “It wasn’t good for my health.”
Good or bad for his health, Hurley’s speech worked. Arizona State, a team that made just seven shots in the first half, did not miss their first eight attempts from the field. Rob Edwards helped facilitate the offense going 5-of-6 from the field and scoring 14 points.
“When I can feed Rob like that, I’m definitely going to,” Martin said.
The Devils put themselves back together. As Hurley stood on the sidelines of Wells Fargo Arena, arms outstretched and waving his hands towards the sky, motioning the crowd to make some noise, his team fed off The Bank’s energy.
They cashed in. The Devils took home the contest. They sent Lake and Cheatham off the Tempe court for the final time as winners.
“For the culture,” Cheatham said.
Cheatham will leave the program in just a few short weeks with a new culture left behind. One he worked hard to create. A culture where the fans love the players as much as they do winning. A culture where players need to do what helps the team, not their stats. A culture of winning.
For Arizona State, their final home game was a win that should have been won, yes. But, more than what met the eye occurred on Sunday night. The Devils sent a player off that changed ‘cultures’, one that Martin said was a “brother to him.” In their win, they perfectly said goodbye to their senior leader.
