Canton commits turnovers on five of its final eight possessions in home loss to Westchester
CANTON As the temperature dropped close to zero outside Memorial Civic Center on Friday night, the cold days for the Canton Charge continued on the court inside.
The Charge crumbled down the stretch and lost 95-90 to the Westchester Knicks in front of 1,970 hearty fans who braved the elements to watch the home team drop its fourth straight game.
Leading 87-84 on Caleb Swanigan’s jumper with 2:41 left, the Charge committed turnovers on five of their final eight possessions as the Knicks rallied.
“Gave it away,” Canton head coach Nate Reinking said. “It’s as simple as that. ‘Here you go. Take a win.’”
Two of the other possessions included Swanigan and JaCorey Williams, neither of them known for their prowess from the arc, chucking up errant 3-pointers.
It was pretty much a how-not-to-close-a-game clinic for a team that totaled 23 overall turnovers and made only 11 of 18 free throws on the night.
The first two miscues of the final stretch (by Williams and Marcus Thornton) led directly to breakaway layups for Westchester’s Trey Burke.
He picked Thornton on the second one, which then led to Thornton tossing a pass to the first row on the Charge’s next possession after a timeout.
“I can’t have those two turnovers late,” said Thornton, who shared the overall team lead at five with Williams and point guard London Perrantes. “Those were crucial. I know those really hurt us.”
Earlier, Thornton almost single-handedly kept the Charge in the game.
He scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the third quarter, including the final 10 of the period. His jumper at the buzzer had the Charge down 68-65 heading to the fourth.
“The game just kind of came to me,” said Thornton, who finished 10 of 15 from the floor and 6 of 9 from the 3-point line. “I was in the natural flow of the game. Shots kind of came to me and teammates found me.”
The Charge took their first lead since the second quarter when Swanigan made a free throw with 7:03 left. The rookie forward, with the Charge on flex assignment from the Portland Trail Blazers, registered 16 points and a Canton season-high 19 rebounds.
In an ugly game, the Charge grinded it out and put themselves in a position to win.
Then they ruined it with puzzling sloppiness.
“You’ve got to handle the ball at the end of the game,” Reinking said.
Williams scored 19 points for the Charge (8-14), who have faced division-leading teams in six of their last seven games. In related news, the Charge have lost five of their last six games and reside in the basement of the Central Division.
“You better believe you can win,” Reinking said. “I can’t put my finger on anything else. We’re in position for quite a few games now and they’re coming down to this type of game. You just have to believe and make a play when you have to make a play.”
Burke, the Columbus native and former NBA Lottery pick, led Westchester (17-9) with 23 points and five assists. Nigel Hayes, a Toledo native, added 18 points on 4 of 8 shooting from 3-point range, including a backbreaker with 49.8 seconds left.
The Charge led by as many as 11 in the second quarter when Ante Zizic dunked in the opening minute. But Canton soon cooled. The Charge made just one field goal in the final 6:21 of the half and found themselves down 49-43 after being outscored 30-15 in the period.
Zizic, an assignee from the Cavaliers, finished with 10 points off the bench.
Kevin Olekaibe scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter to give the Charge a chance.
With his team readying to travel for a Saturday night game in Grand Rapids, Thornton said of the Charge’s swoon, “It’s tough, but that happens in basketball. I think we’ve all been through it during some point in our careers. It’s a matter of us coming together more and sticking to our guns.”
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