Canton Charge figures a way to defeat Raptors 905 during tight match
It was a highly physical game that saw countless lead changes with neither team being able to dominate but in the end it was the Canton Charge (16-9), powered by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who defeated the Raptors 905 (10-15), 106-103 at the Canton Memorial Civic Center on Saturday evening. It was the second such meeting in as many days with the Raptors handily winning on Friday night. It was Mark Price bobble-head night with fans receiving a prized keepsake for attending the game.
Learning their lesson from the Friday night meeting, Canton literally played a hard hitting defense as they managed to thwart the Raptors ally-oop and lay-up attempts that had proved their downfall during the Friday evening match. While some of the attempts resulted in fouls being called it sent a message that those baskets would have to be fought for.
J.P. Macura once again led the Charge scoring of 26 points with 11-of-15 shooting from the field with 4-of-7 from the three point arc along with 10 rebounds earning him his second double-double of the season. Levi Randolph tied with Macura at 26 points on 9-of-17 adding five rebounds in 35 minutes. Sir ‘Dominic Pointer was Mr. Versatile scoring 10 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks in 26 minutes. Sheldon Mac came off the bench to score 13 points and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 11 points with two steals in 26 minutes of relief.
In all there were 19 lead changes and 13 ties as the best either team could do was pull away by seven points at any point in the game. The entire fourth quarter was kept to a single possession situation until Matt Mooney hit for a 31 foot jumper with 10.3 seconds left in the game giving Canton a four point lead at 102-98. The two teams will meet for a third time on March 19, 2020 in Mississauga, Canada.
High scorer for the Raptors 905 was Tyler Ennis who earned a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. Justin Anderson also earned his double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Oshae Brissett made good with 17 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes. Matt Morgan added 10 points and three steals in 18 minutes off the bench.
Canton hits the road for an afternoon game with the Long Island Nets on Monday, January 20, 2020 with tip-off set for 3 p.m.
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.