Canton Charge Win Franchise First Playoff Game

Game 1

Canton Charge 108

Springfield Armor 93

Game 2

Canton Charge 116
Springfield Armor 125 (OT)

Game 3

Canton Charge 115
Springfield Armor 106

     T.J. Campbell has made the biggest improvement this year, and it has never shown brighter than Friday night at the Civic Center when he led the Canton Charge to their first ever playoff win. Coming in as the 7th seed against the 2nd seed Springfield Armor, Campbell contributed 24 points to the first year Canton Charge's playoff debut. T.J shot 5-6 from the floor with 13 points in the first half. The Charge seen something in T.J. and had faith in him when they traded Keith McLoed to Erie, and T.J. has done nothing but shine in his new role. The Greatest Shooter outside the NBA, Josh Akognon, had a huge second quarter leading the Charge with 10 points ans 4 rebounds in the quarter.
     The Charge showed no letup in the 3rd where they stretched an 11 point halftime lead out to 21 heading into the 4th. The third period seen another 7 from Campbell and 7 more from Harangoty. Antoine Agudio had a great 3rd quarter with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. A 4th quarter lead that got up to 29 at one point also got as close as 12 with a few minutes left to play. It was just too little too late for the Armor as Gibson and Harangoty helped keep the Armor at a safe distance. 
     The biggest thing that sticks out to anyone who watched the game last night was the Charge's toughness. despite being undersized compared to Springfield's 7-foot center Jeff Foote, the Charge took it at them! The toughness and aggression shows in the stats, each one won by the Charge. 


                     CHARGE                                       ARMOR
                           56               pts in paint              32
                           53                 rebounds                41
                           17              off rebounds             15
                           22           2nd chance pts           12
                            8                      blocks                    6


     The Charge had a slight let up in the 4th quarter, which is probably more human nature than lack of effort. They out rebounded the Armor 15-7 in the 4th quarter alone and held them to no second opportunities. Harangoty and Hassell led the team with 9 rebounds while guards Kyle Gibson and Antoine Agudio pulled down 8 apiece. After the game Jensen Mentioned that getting that type of rebounding output from guards goes a long way in playing great defense and limiting possessions. Coach Jensen also gave Dante Milligan a ton of credit for playing Foote so tough inside doing his part to put his team in a position to win. As Coach Jensen noted post-game, the Armor were the best rebounding team in the league this year, so that makes the defensive and rebounding efforts even more noticeable.
     Coach Jensen mentioned how much a win would put the pressure on Springfield and told his guys that they would most definitely get the Armor's best effort. He was pretty happy with the way his team was able to withstand that push and get a win. The pressure is on Springfield, the higher seed, to pull out the series on their home floor, where the two teams split a pair of games this year. The Charge might look a little bit different Sunday without Luke Harangoty, who got called up after the game Friday night, and Josh Akognon's injury status being unclear. Akognon left in the 3rd quarter Friday with a calf injury and did not return. Without Harangoty expect Milligan, Hassell and Biggs to pick up the minutes. Biggs, the Charge 1st round draft pick, is going to have to pick up his game now big time now without Luke on the roster. Akognon will be tougher to replace with Agudio and Campbell already getting over 40 minutes a game. Travis Walton will be turned to to pick up the slack and some minutes. If Akognon cant play the Charge will be losing 16 points a game off the bench and expect Walton who is averaging under a point a game to pick it up.