Charge Inch Closer to Playoff Spot with Big Win

Photo via The Cleveland Charge

Cleveland, OH- Needing to win to get into the playoffs, the Charge came out on fire against the Grand Rapids Gold. The Gold came back to make things interesting, but in the end, the Charge kept control and won 108-101. In a game that the Charge never trailed in, you would think it was an easy win. It was not. The Gold fought and clawed and made the Charge earn the victory.

The Charge finally started a game strong, as they raced out to a 17-point led in the first quarter. Dylan Windler started for the first time this season.

Coach Mike Gerrity stated after the game “Dylan was in a situation where he wasn’t getting starter minutes, so it made more sense for him to come off the bench. Now that he’s feeling a little better and the minutes are ramping up, I felt it was the right time for him to start.”

Windler responded by having a really good all-around game as he finished with 24 points and a game high 15 rebounds. Windler played his best ball of the night in the second half as the Gold made things interesting.

After the initial run to start the game, the Charge fell into the lull. While they never surrendered the lead, they started playing sloppy and the Gold gave effort to come back. But Windler and Sharife Cooper took over late and the Charge held on.

Cooper led all scorers with 26 points. He also had 7 assist. Cooper looked to be back into midseason form as he was able to get to his spots and keep the offense going. When Cooper is right, and healthy, the Charge are tough because he does a lot of things well and he is a true point guard in that he looks to set his teammates up, while also being able to get his own. He had an impressive game, and it wasn’t the perfect game for him. He missed some easy shots, but it was still noticeable how in control he was.

The Charge now go to Detroit to take on the Motor City Cruise in another “win and you’re in” scenario. The team came in knowing they needed to win these two games and they won the first one tonight. Now on to Motor City to finish strong and get into the playoffs. They take on Motor City at 7pm on Friday. You can watch on the team’s mobile app, or listen live on NEO Sports Radio on the iHeart Radio mobile app.