G League Cleveland Charge

Starters Propel Charge to Home Finale Win

Published on March 26, 2014 under NBA G League (G League)
Cleveland Charge News Release


The Canton Charge capped off their 2013-14 regular season home schedule with a 117-108 win over the Maine Red Claws in front of 3,678 at the Memorial Civic Center on Wednesday night. The victory improved Canton to 27-19 and closer to clinching their third playoff berth in as many seasons of existence, while Maine dropped to 19-26.

After 13 lead changes and eight ties in the first half, both teams were knotted up at 61-61 at the break. Both teams continued to trade blows with five more lead changes, six ties and 13 points apiece in the first 3:54 to start the third. With the game tied at 74-74, the Charge hit eight of their next nine shots on a 17-7 run for their largest lead of the game at 91-81.

Up 93-86 to start the fourth, Canton got a huge effort from Antoine Agudio, who scored 14 points in the period and 12-straight during a 12-2 run that gave the home team their largest lead at 106-94. The Charge never trailed in the fourth quarter, as the win sees them take the final 3-2 edge in the season series between the two teams and a final 17-8 mark at home.

For the first time in franchise history, five Canton players scored 20+ points (all starters), as the first unit accounted for 109 of the team's total points. Kyrylo Fesenko had his second-straight game with a double-double, posting 22 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in 38 minutes. Agudio had a team-high 24 points with three steals, while Gilbert Brown netted 20 points with five boards. Shane Edwards added 22 points of his own with six rebounds, while Will Cherry rounded out the frontline's effort with 21 points.

Maine was led by the recently reacquired Chris Wright's game-high 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting with nine rebounds and two blocks in 41 minutes. Frank Gaines poured in 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting in 36 minutes. Daniel Orton came off the bench to add 15 points and nine boards in 32 minutes of relief. Both teams finished over 50% shooting from the floor in the game, but the Charge forced 15 Red Claws turnovers resulting in 24 points while surrendering 11 of their own for just 12 points.

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH STEVE HETZEL

(On Antoine Agudio's play tonight): "He took a sip out of the fountain of youth. He's been steadfast (for us). If Ron Howard is Mr. Mad Ant, he is Mr. Charge. He deserved a night like this because nobody cares more than he does about number one, winning, and two, playing for this team. I'm just so happy that he had a night like this and we needed him to. He propelled us to victory."

G ANTOINE AGUDIO

(On the team's second half play): "We have been practicing hard all week. Coach (Hetzel) told us to trust each other; I know it's a new team. In that second half, we just buckled-down and sat in the huddle and talked about it. It brought the guys together. He likes us to be on the same page and we started rolling from there."

(On the team's developing chemistry): "We have been practicing hard and Coach has been getting on us. We're professionals and we have got to come together. It doesn't matter who comes and goes, we still have got to put it together. I think we're coming together and trusting each other more, sharing the ball on offense like we did in the beginning of the year when we had that (five) game win streak."

Canton will finish the 2013-14 regular season campaign with their final four games on the road, starting with a visit to the Iowa Energy on Saturday, March 29 at 8:00 p.m. For tickets, game day promotions and links to live stats and YouTube game streams, head to www.CantonCharge.com.

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