G League Cleveland Charge

Canton Has Home Win Streak Snapped by Fort Wayne

Published on December 21, 2013 under NBA G League (G League)
Cleveland Charge News Release


The Canton Charge had their eight-game home winning streak snapped by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in a 106-102 loss at the Memorial Civic Center on Saturday night. The defeat drops the Charge to 8-2 on the season, while the Mad Ants improved their mark to 4-5 with their third-straight victory.

Canton crashed the boards early to control possession, outrebounding Fort Wayne 15-4 in the opening quarter. The home team hit 11-of-19 attempts from the field in the first (58%), allowing them to pull ahead for a 26-19 lead.

The Charge were able to extend their advantage in the second due to stout play on the defensive end, limiting the Mad Ants to just 8-of-21 from the floor (38%). Canton dished out 12 first half assists on 20 field goals, and Arinze Onuaku netted nine of his 13 first half points in the second quarter as the Charge went into the intermission up 54-41.

With a deficit as many as 20 in the third quarter, Fort Wayne turned up the intensity by hitting 15-of-20 shots from the field (75%) and outscoring Canton 35-26. The Mad Ants' resurgence was fueled by a 19-6 run in the final 5:30, including forcing four Charge turnovers for eight points, and they trailed 80-76 heading into the fourth.

The final quarter featured five lead changes and two ties and a predominantly defensive theme. Fort Wayne forced seven more Canton turnovers for nine points, all while not surrendering the basketball once and limiting the Charge to just 4-of-17 shooting (24%).

With the Mad Ants leading 94-90 with 38.9 seconds left, Bo Spencer drilled a 25-foot three-pointer to pull Canton within one. After a Ramon Harris miss, Michael Lee drew a hard foul near the hoop in the bonus on the ensuing possession to give the Charge a chance to pull ahead. Lee hit the first and missed the second, and the game went into overtime at 94-94 when Ron Howard missed the potential game winner from 18 feet out.

Howard hit a jumper in the first possession of extra time to put the Mad Ants back ahead, 96-94. Both teams traded misses before Spencer pulled up and nailed a contested three-pointer for the Charge to go back in front, 97-96, with 1:52 left. Fort Wayne put the game away with a 9-0 run over the next 1:39 that included three Canton misses and their season-high 25th turnover, handing the Charge their first home loss since March 16th of last season.

For Canton, Kevin Jones scored a team-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting with 10 rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes for his third double-double of the season. Onuaku finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 11 rebounds and one block in 27 minutes for his fourth double-double in his last five games. Spencer totaled 15 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench.

Howard led the Mad Ants with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists in 42 minutes. Sadiel Rojas added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with four rebounds and four steals in 32 minutes. Trey McKinney Jones supplied 15 points, six rebounds and four assists in 46 minutes.

The Charge are back at home hosting the Reno Bighorns on Saturday, December 28th, at 7:00 p.m., with tickets starting as low as $7! The contest features dollar hot dogs presented by Sugardale and postgame autographs presented by FirstEnergy Solutions. To purchase single game tickets or for all general ticket information, fans can call 1-866-444-1944 or visit www.CantonCharge.com/tickets.

Fans can stay up-to-date on team news by following the team at: @CantonCharge on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CantonCharge and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CantonCharge.

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NBA G League Stories from December 21, 2013


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