The Canton Charge (19-13), presented by SecureData 365 and powered by the Cleveland Cavaliers, defeated the Iowa Energy (14-17), 115-105, at the Canton Memorial Civic Center on Tuesday night. The victory gives the Charge 14 wins in their last 16 games and seven straight, tying a franchise record for the second time this season.
A back-and forth first quarter saw six lead changes and five ties in the opening 12 minutes, with Canton pulling ahead 25-24 after a Michael Dunigan jumper found the bottom of the net as time expired. Both teams traded buckets to start the second, but Canton rolled off a quick 7-2 run to go ahead 32-26. The Charge led for the rest of the second thanks in part to 28 of their 30 points coming from the bench, as Canton held a 55-49 halftime lead.
Iowa began the third quarter with a 12-0 run by hitting five-of-six shots, forcing a Charge timeout with 9:15 remaining in the third and leading 61-55. An Andrew Harrison made three pointer with 7:16 remaining in the third gave the Energy their largest lead of the game at 70-61. Canton scratched and clawed their way back with 15 bench points in the latter half of the period, taking a 83-80 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Charge bench played heavy minutes in the fourth, with Michael Dunigan, Nick Minnerath, and Sir'Dominic Pointer playing the whole quarter. The Charge caught fire in the final stanza, shooting 64% from the field behind 12 fourth quarter points from Minnerath, to go up by as many as 15 on their way to the win.
Minnerath paced Canton with a team-high 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting with 11 rebounds in 32 minutes. Minnerath, the league leader in free-throw percentage (95%), went five-for-five from the charity stripe and has made 49 of his last 50 attempts. Pointer contributed 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with six boards and two blocks in 27 minutes. Michael Stockton added 11 points and eight assists in 22 minutes. The Charge bench outscored Iowa's 66-17.
Iowa guard Andrew Harrison, averaging 21 points against the Charge coming into tonight's contest, scored a game-high 36 points on 13-of-22 from the field. Alex Stephenson posted a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds in 37 minutes. The starting backcourt of Terry Whisnant and Patrick Christopher combined for 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting.
The Charge will next host the Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors affiliate) on Saturday, February 20th at 7:00 p.m.
(Charge press release)
