Charge and Cooper Take Down Sioux Falls SkyForce

CLEVELAND, OH –

On Tuesday night the Cleveland Charge welcomed the Sioux Falls SkyForce for the first night of a back-to-back. Cleveland is coming into play having lost their last 3 games. In all 3 games, 2-way players Mamadi Diakite and Isaiah Mobley were both inactive. They are currently 6-4 on the season and sit as the 4^th seed in the Central region. For the SkyForce, they have split their last 2 games and sit at 4-4 on the season.

Charge Jump Out to Quick Start

 

The Cleveland Charge got into a groove on offense early in the game. The big men got the scoring started. Mamadi Diakite and Isaiah Mobley were giving the SkyForce big men fits in the paint. Mobley would finish the first quarter with 10 points and 3 rebounds. More players continued to get involved. Much of the credit goes to starting point guard Sharife Cooper. In the first quarter Cooper had 4 points and 4 assists in just 6 minutes of play. After the game, Cooper had this to say about getting his teammates involved early, “It’s fun and makes my life easier. Getting those guys involved and getting those guys confident. Ultimately being the point guard, I feel like it’s my job. Being that I can get them the ball and their making shots, now they have to guard those guys and my lanes are easier.” The Charge as a team finished the 1^st quarter with 7 assists and just 1 turnover. They held a 33-26 lead heading into the 2^nd quarter.

The second quarter showed much of the same for both teams. For Sioux Falls, Orlando Robinson was a force. After putting up 8 points in the first quarter, he added another 9 in the 2^nd. This put his total for the game at 17 points after the first half. Landon Kirkwood added 11 off the bench. There was not much consistent offense other than that for the SkyForce in the first half. For the Charge however, Mobley, Cooper, and Diakite continued their great games. Isaiah Mobley led the way with 16 points and 5 rebounds at the half. Mamadi Diakite and Sharife Cooper added 11 points each while Cooper had 8 assists. At halftime, the Charge led 65-53.

Offensive Showcase

The third quarter had a lot of back and forth between the 2 teams. Neither team could sustain much of a run. A couple of players for the SkyForce started to get in a rhythm though. DJ Stewart, who struggled in the first half, shot 4/7 in the 3^rd quarter and put up 11 points. Mychael Mulder started to hit his shots late in the quarter as well. He missed all 5 of his attempts in the first half but went 3/7 in the 3^rd quarter to add 8 points. The Charge continued to share the ball and get multiple players opportunities. Isaiah Mobley and Jordan Allen each scored 6 points in the quarter. Diakite added another 5 points while Sharife Cooper had another 4 points and 4 assists. Heading into the 4^th quarter, the Charge held a 98-86 lead.

SkyForce Storm Back

In the 4^th quarter, the Charge got off to a quick start again. They stretched their lead to 15 points after a couple quick baskets. Sioux Falls was not done though. Over the next 4 minutes, the SkyForce went on a 13-4 scoring run. This cut the Charge lead to just 6 points. Cleveland needed a spark on offense to close the game out.

Sharife Cooper Takeover

Coming into the 4^th quarter, Cooper already had an impressive stat line with 15 points and 12 assists. He was just getting started. For the last 7:10 of the game, it was all Sharife Cooper. Sharife came down the court and hit a step back 3-pointer to put the Charge back up by 9. He didn’t look back from there. In just the final 7:10 of the game, Sharife Cooper tallied 19 points to help the Charge close out the SkyForce. The cherry on top was a play in which he split two defenders at the top of the key and threw down a left-handed dunk on another. After the game when asked about that play, he said, “That’s probably the first time I did that, so it was kind of exciting.” The Charge would go on to win the game by a final score of 126-111.

Key Players

Cleveland Chage:

Sharife Cooper: 34 points, 12 assists (season-high), 11/15 FG

Isaiah Mobley: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists

Mamadi Diakite: 21 points, 5 assists, 5 blocks

Sioux Falls SkyForce:

DJ Stewart: 24 points, 5 rebounds

Orlando Robinson: 22 points, 11 rebounds

Jon Elmore: 18 points, 9 assists

Next Game

Wednesday night the Cleveland Charge will once again take on the Sioux Falls SkyForce from the Wolstein Center. The Charge will likely be without 2-way players Isaiah Mobley and Mamadi Diakite as the Cleveland Cavaliers play host to the Philadelphia 76ers. The first tip will be at 6PM ET with coverage on ESPN+ and NEO Sports Radio.