Saturday, in their second game in as many days, the Charger men's basketball team tried to pick up their second win of the young season. Success was not to be had, however, as perimeter shooting and turnovers were key, and the Skippers of St. Clair County Community College knocked off the Marian University Ancilla Chargers, 60-41.
The Chargers trailed just 5-4 early on, when the Skippers buried 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, stretching their lead to 14-4 just four minutes into the contest. Charger Sophomore Willie Reece buried a jumper to eventually cut that lead in half at 17-12 eight minutes in, but the Skippers quickly spaced it back out to double figures at 22-12. After some back and forth, a free throw by Charger Sophomore Ben Jones cut the lead to 31-21 at the 3:04 mark in the first half, but the Chargers failed to score throughout the remainder of the quarter, and St. Clair County entered halftime leading by a 36-21 margin.
MUAC exited the locker room on a mission, and after a series of stops, a Marcellous Boyd (Fr.) layup polished off a 12-2 Charger run, trimming the lead to just 38-33 with 15:41 remaining in the game. The Chargers saw a couple of opportunities to tie shortly thereafter and missed shots, but the Skippers then kicked it into gear and outscored the Chargers 22-8 over the final 14:19 of the contest. In the end, Marian University Ancilla committed 12 second half turnovers and lost the overall turnover battle 17-11, plus St. Clair County was an efficient 10-26 (38.5%) from 3-point range, outscoring the Chargers 30-3 from beyond the arc. The Skippers also won the bench battle, 15-0.
Reece led the Chargers in scoring with 12 points, while Freshman Kameron Hordge added 11 points. Freshman forward Jayden Sanders had the most complete game, contributing 10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and a blocked shot in the loss. St. Clair County also placed three players in double figures, with Daquan Coleman (12 points), Isaiah Jones (11 points), and Tyler Hamilton (10 points) pacing them in scoring. Hamilton added 6 assists in the triumph.
The Charger men's basketball team doesn't have a lot of time off, as they play at home this Tuesday against the JV team from Indiana Tech. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET at Charger Arena in The LifePlex in Plymouth, Indiana. If you are in town, please come out and support the Chargers!!
