Canton Charge unable to fight the odds in loss against Fort Wayne Mad Ants
It was a double technical foul following a controversial call (that resulted in the Charge’s Forward Caleb Swanigan being ejected from the game) that was the difference as the Canton Charge (12-20), powered by the Cleveland Cavaliers, fell to the Central Division leading Fort Wayne Mad Ants (19-13) Tuesday evening, 117-113. Fort Wayne’s victory snaps a six-game losing streak at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.
The Mad Ants took off in the first quarter hitting 57% from the field as Fort Wayne’s Guard Walter Lemon hit for six with four rebounds and three steals in the first quarter. In spite of this, Canton stayed in the game shooting 46% having just an eight point deficit (30-22) as the teams took a breather.
Canton came back in the second quarter with a 5-0 run as they shot 55% on 11-of-20 shooting. The Charge’s London Perrantes hit for six with five assists and John Holland did triple three pointers to tie the game at 38 up. Fort Wayne fought back and was able to get a six point advantage at the half at 52-46.
After the mid-game break, Canton charged ahead by 11 with 8:49 on the clock in the third when Swanigan was hit for the double technicals and ejected as he finished the game with four points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes on the floor. Following the questionable four points the Mad Ants went on a 7-0 run as they cut the lead to 61-57 with 6:48 left in the third.
Canton’s Marcus Thorton forced a dunk as the Charge pulled ahead 67-62. Not to be outdone, Fort Wayne went on a 6-0 run regaining the lead at 68-67 with 3:31 left in the third. The Mad Ant’s Lemon and Hicks combined for eight points as they closed out the quarter leading 80-75.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was not kind to the Charge as they trailed by as much as fourteen points but John Holland and Marcus Thorton combined for an 8-0 run to cut the lead to four. Canton managed to get within two points with 5.5 seconds remaining but yet another penalty in a long series of Charge infractions had Jarrod Uthoff finish off with two free throws for the win at 117-113.
The Charge had three players post at least 20 points. Holland finished with 29 points and three assists in 36 minutes for the Charge. Thornton added 26 points, connecting on six three-pointers for the second consecutive game. Cavaliers assignee Ante Zizic provided 20 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Perrantes recorded his fifth double-double of his rookie campaign, posting 10 points and 10 assists while also corralling five rebounds in 40 minutes of burn. The Charge won the turnover battle, forcing 17 resulting in 25 points.
Lemon Jr. scored a game-high 30 points and just missed out on a triple-double, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out seven assists. DeQuan Jones poured in 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 36 minutes. Stephan Hicks came off the bench for the Mad Ants, scoring 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
The next home game has Canton facing the Eastern Conference leaders, the Westchester Knicks (New York Knicks) on Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 7 p.m. The first 1,500 fans 18 and older will receive a Canton Charge fleece blanket courtesy of the Ohio Lottery.
2018-19 Charge Nation Memberships are on sale NOW! Place your $100 per seat initial payment today and receive the rest of the 2017-18 season for FREE in addition to all the other great benefits of being a Charge Nation Member. Visit CantonCharge.com or call 866-444-1944 to sign up today.
The Canton Charge is part of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena organization and is also owned by a group led by Cavaliers Chairman and Quicken Loans Founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert. The group also owns and operates the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League, both of which play their games at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.