Cisse leads Lausanne to DII-A title victory
NASHVILLE — He was held to five points in the first half, but once Moussa Cisse got going offensively in the third quarter, he showed exactly why he’s Tennessee’s top prospect for the Class of 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite.
The 6-foot-10 center was named MVP after finishing one block shy of a tripledouble with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks, willing Lausanne to an 5444 victory over FACS in the Division II-A state title game.
“It was huge, but that’s what he’s been doing all year. Moussa has 17 triple-doubles on the season. You know, it’s kind of unheard of,” Lausanne coach Marvis Davis said. “Everyone talks about the 21 blocks in a game that he had, but he’s had several games with 15 and 16 blocks. For him, he gets going and feeds off of the defensive end, and he lets his defense dictate his offense.”
The dunk that sparked Cisse’s takeover was a fast-break alley-oop that he caught with two hands while his head was at rim level. He threw it down with force and slammed home another alleyoop a minute and a half later.
Defensively, he was practically a oneman zone with six blocks by halftime.
“My mind-set was that today I was going to block everything. I was trying to play hard. I was trying to play like it was my last game,” Cisse said.
The 6-foot-10 junior was able to alter shots by sliding off the box and rotating on help defense. He effectively guarded the perimeter when he had to. He was able to start fast breaks by deflecting shots to his teammates, which led to open looks. And he stayed out of foul trouble, picking up his first foul in the fourth quarter.
“You can’t keep going in there, and we did,” FACS coach Dee Wilkes said. “I think we got away from our game plan by going in there and instead of kicking it, we were shooting too much at the rim.”
Cisse has offers from Memphis, Kentucky, Kansas, Georgetown and Florida State among others. He took an official visit to Florida State on Jan. 24. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing have attended Lausanne games this season.
This was Cisse’s first season at Lausanne after he transferred from Christ the King Regional in New York last summer. Christ the King fell in the NYSFSSAA Class AA state championship game last season.
“It’s been really great. I was super excited for this moment to happen,” Cisse said. “I was talking to Coach all year about this moment and I was like, ‘I want to be a state champion.’ He was like, ‘If you trust me we can get there.’ He gave me confidence, me and my teammates.”
The win marks Lausanne’s third state title and first since 2017. Johnathan Dejurnett led all scorers with 16. Bo Mongtomery added 11.
“We were up last night, the whole team, talking about how it would be our last time playing together,” Dejurnett said. “We thought it would be real special to go out like this.”