Shorthanded Charge fall to Cruise 102-92

Feron Hunt’s 20 points and 13 rebounds wasn’t enough to overcome Motor City.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers are shorthanded, so are the Charge. The Cavs’ injuries meant that two-way prospect Emoni Bates and some of the other players who have spent time with the Charge this season weren’t available. That left just nine active players with the Charge’s injuries to Jules Bernard (knee) and Eli Hughes (illness).

Strong performances from Feron Hunt and Nae’Qwan Tomlin weren’t enough to overcome the deficits.

Hunt set the tone early. He scored 11 of his 20 points in the first seven minutes of the first quarter. This helped Cleveland get off to a strong start.

“He did a good job early in the game of just reading the floor, understanding where there was space, understanding where there were mismatches to exploit and taking advantage of it,” said Charge head coach Chris Darnell.

Hunt has done an excellent job of using his athleticism to attack the basket repeatedly. The physicality he plays with at 6’8” sticks out in a league where few players have his combination of size and skill.

This has been on display all season but especially in his last two outings against the Cruise as he added in 25 points on 10-16 shooting in Sunday’s win.

“He’s been super coachable,” Darnell said of Hunt. “He’s a guy who’s been on a two-way, had a little taste of the league. He’s had to figure it out the last year or two, but he’s just done a great job of being in. ... He’s living in the gym. He wants it, his work ethic is there.”

Tomlin stepped up in the second quarter, adding in 9 points on 4-6 shooting in that frame. They used his scoring to build a seven-point advantage at the break.

The Cruise came back with a strong third quarter thanks to an 11-point quarter from Ron Harper Jr. They used that to win the frame 34-22 and took a five-point advantage into the fourth.

Cleveland fought back in the fourth but they weren’t able to generate enough offense to pull off the comeback. The Charge made it a one-point game but weren’t able to get over the hump.

They only scored 44 points in the second half with 20 coming in the fourth quarter.

“Turnovers,” Charge guard Darius Brown said about what went wrong offensively. “We had a lot of turnovers in the second half. I think 15. That’s way too many. And that led to transition points. Our half-court defense was pretty good.”

On top of that, it didn’t help that Tomlin fouled out midway through the fourth and Hunt couldn’t finish the game due to a foot injury. Cleveland had a good effort, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 102-92.

“We got fight in us,” Brown said. “But you know, that’s not going to win us games.”

Motor Cruise was led by Harper Jr. who finished with 31 points on 8-15 shooting and 4 rebounds. Former Cavalier Lamar Stevens provided 18 points on 6-13 shooting with 5 boards and 3 helpers.

Hunt led the Charge with 20 points on 7-16 shooting with 13 boards and 4 assists but turned it over 7 times. Tomlin had 19 points on 8-16 shooting with 11 rebounds and 3 assists. JT Thor added in 19 points on 6-14 shooting with 2 boards and 5 assists.

Falling just short without a full roster has been a theme for the Charge. Having inconsistent lineups on a daily basis is a reality of the G League. That said, Cleveland hasn’t had their three two-way players for any game yet this season. That makes life more difficult than you’d like it to be.

However, the Charge aren’t using that as an excuse.

“When we’re down like this, we’re never thinking that we’re out of it or we don’t have enough talent to win,” Darnell said. “Obviously, we beat this team two days ago with a similar roster. I think these games are great. Everybody knows they’re going to get an opportunity. Everybody’s locked in. And I think it shows the resiliency of the team.”

The Charge will need to show that resiliency as they go on a two-week long road trip starting in Deleware when they travel to take on the Blue Coats.

The loss drops the Charge to 5-6 in the regular season portion of their schedule. They will return home on Friday, Feb. 7 when they take on the Westchester Knicks.