Canton Charge fight a good fight but fall in triple OT against the Wisconsin Herd
It took three overtimes, back to back games, some obvious mind lapses and questionable officiating for the number one team in the NBA G League Eastern Conference to defeat our home team. The Canton Charge (9-5), powered by the Cleveland Cavaliers lost in triple overtime, 130-127, to the Wisconsin Herd (12-1) during Saturday’s contest at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. This is only the second triple OT game in Charge history with the last one being an 109-106 loss against Delaware that occurred November 15, 2014.
It was a large crowd that gathered for Austin Carr bobble head night and salute to the Salvation Army who saw an exciting game that went down to the wire. The Charge came out fast, taking a 10-2 lead three and a half minutes into action. Canton kept the pace, holding an 11-point edge at the end of the first with Marques Bolden scoring 13 of the Charge’s first 17 points on a 5-for-6 shooting line.
It appeared that the Charge had the game in hand as they took a double digit lead at the 7:48 mark in the second quarter. The Herd fought back chipping away at the lead and taking a one point lead at the half. In the third quarter Wisconsin banked on some costly mental Charge errors with an 11-2 run. The Charge took a time-out to regroup answering the call with 13 unanswered points to creep within four points.
As the last quarter began, Sheldon Mac and Sir ‘Dominic Pointer hit for a combined 10 points of the team’s 15 points as Newman tied the score at 103-103 as the very vocal crowd went wild. Wisconsin took a three point lead but Pointer drew a foul during a lay-up forcing the first overtime.
During the first two minutes of overtime both teams fought on both ends of the court with neither being able to gain any more than a two point advantage. Pointer held his own while Dean Wade made a crucial block to keep the score tied setting up the second OT. The second overtime was a mirror image of the first and it took four unanswered Wisconsin points in the waning 20 seconds of the third OT that sealed Canton’s fate.
Canton boasted of seven players scoring double-digits which is a first for this season. Wade led the team with 19 points with 5-of-11 shooting while grabbing a team high 11 rebounds in 35 minutes of court time. Pointer came off the bench and was close behind with 18 points, seven boards and two steals. Next it was Bolden and Newman with 17 points each with Bolden making five rebounds and Newman helping with five assists. Rounding off the top scorers were Robinson with 16, Mac with 15 and Tyhler Cook with 12.
It was the seemingly unstoppable Rayjon Tucker for the Herd who finished the game with a career best 36 points on 10-of-23 shooting in 40 minutes. Teammate Jermerrio Jones followed with 13 points and 16 rebounds while Luke Maye tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds earning both a double-double. Jaylen Adams finsihed the game with 22 points and five assists in 40 minutes of play.
The next Canton Charge home game is set for this coming Tuesday, December 17, 2019 as they face the Westchester Knicks with tip-off at 7 p.m. It’s WINSday with the first 500 fans 18 and older receiving free scratch off ticket courtesy of the Ohio Lottery.
The Canton Charge is part of the Cleveland Cavaliers 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 Monsters of the American Hockey League, who play their games at Rocket Mortgage Field House in downtown Cleveland.