Canton comes from 15 down, defeats Westchester Knicks

Recapping the Canton Charge’s victory over the Westchester Knicks.

The Canton Charge were down as many as 15 in the first half to the Westchester Knicks but the Charge used a big second surge by Kay Felder and Mike Williams to defeat Westchester 120-112. The Charge go to 23-17 on the season.

Kay Felder and Mike Williams are your players of the game.

Kay Felder: 26 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal.
Mike Williams: 14 points (5/9 FG, 4/7 from three), 6 assists and 3 rebounds off the bench.

The Charge were struggling from the field in the first half; at the end of the first quarter, the were shooting just 29.2 percent from the field, with Felder going 0-5 from the field. They upped their percentage a bit in the second quarter and ended the first half shooting 43.6 percent from the field. Felder had 10 points (3-10 from the field).

Mike Williams, who came off the bench, was a huge help in the third quarter. He had 8 points (3-6 from the field, 2-4 from three-point range). The Charge also shot 48.6 percent from the field after three. Williams then scored six more key points in the fourth quarter and finished the night with 14 points (5-9 from the field, 4-7 from three-point range).

Williams also added 6 assists and 3 rebounds.

The Charge ended the game shooting 51.6 percent from the field.

Kay Felder did talk about what was going through his head during his struggles in the first half:

"“Keep attacking and really just play my game, be confident.” Felder said."

Westchester Knicks head coach Mike Miller got frustrated with the refs. At one point, he yelled at referee Nelson Santiago and told him: “Blow your whistle!” Santiago responded to that demand and gave Miller a technical.

After the game, Canton Charge head coach Nate Reinking talked about what got the guys going in the second half:

"“We just started defending more,” Coach Reinking said. “We defended more, we communicate more and that just leads to the easy baskets and once we got those easy baskets, it just kind of opened up for us.”"

Coach Reinking also talked about Kay Felder being down with the team:

"“He’s been great, he’s been great, he comes everyday. We haven’t had a lot of practice with him, but he shows up,” Coach Reinking said. “He plays hard and the guys are getting more accustomed to him and come together a little more with that.”"

He then went on to say you have to forget about what happened earlier in the game:

"“Yeah you’ve got to fight it, as long as you can stay within reach in the first half, all I was preaching was try to find some energy, find some energy, I know you’re tired, but let’s find some energy and keep the game … you know, you get to half time, that was a 24-minute game,” Coach Reinking said. “Our guys made the run that second, you know, those guys that came in the third period, they were able to run, and after 12 minute game, we were down five. Forget the first three quarters, it doesn’t matter, it’s all about this, these guys showed amazing character today, especially in that last 12 minutes, just to get the win.”"

Guard Mike Williams also talked about what got him going in the third quarter:

"“The game definitely started to open up a lot more. I find myself getting open a lot more. Finding good looks and start hitting them up and down,” Mike Williams said. “And once I got through the first two and more I can keep shooting them and keep going.”"

As far as the early struggles the team had. Williams had this to say:

"“Yeah, first couple quarters everyone was kinda lethargic, still tired, still trying to find a rhythm and find a way,” Williams said. “Everyone was kinda playing terrible out there, just trying to will the team to victory by themselves. Once we settled down and we start finding the energy that we needed to get up and continue to stay up. We just kept running with it. We did.”"

Guard Kay Felder echoed what Williams was saying about the early struggles:

"“I don’t know, a little bit, you know. Some guys probably don’t go to sleep until two, three, I’ve got that problem too where I just stay up for no reason, I’m just up,” Felder said. “That probably had a little bit to do with it, but at the same time, you know, that’s what happens with basketball players. I’ve never seen someone playing two great games back to back in less than 24 hours. It was a play-off atmosphere, play-off game. “"

Felder also described what coach told the team during halftime:

"“He just told us that defense wins games and that is eventually what happened. We wasn’t shooting the ball well,” Felder said. “I don’t think we shot it that well second half either, but we did make a double shot that we needed. Mike Williams stepped up, gave us some big minutes and he even finished out the game for us.”"

Felder on the impact Williams made coming off the bench.

"“Oh, he was very big, gave us some big shots. He was great for us.” Felder said."

Next Home Game

The Canton Charge will take on the Austin Spurs, March 11th at 1:00 PM (EST) on Facebook Live.

What did you think of the Canton Charge’s victory over the Westchester Knicks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.