Of the Chargers’ seven losses, five of them have been by five points or less, while just two of the team’s previous 15 victories before Saturday were won by the same margin. However, the Chargers were able to reverse their fortunes on Saturday at Ashland University and make some big plays down the stretch, leading to a hard fought 64-61 victory.
“Those close games, they’re great learning experiences,” senior Tim Dezelski said. “Some of them haven’t gone our way, but we feel like that’s helped us to get to the point now where we’re pretty confident that we can win and we can make those plays that it takes to win.”
Dezelski’s play was huge as always for the Chargers, as he scored 25 points and recorded 11 rebounds, including a clutch play in the closing minutes.
“Tim Dezelski came up with a huge offensive rebound on a missed free throw by [Brandon] Prizl,” assistant coach Brian McCauley said.
Dezelski’s offensive rebound and layup gave the Chargers the lead for good with 90 seconds left in the game.
“Our older guys, all our seniors, they stepped up,” sophomore Kyle Cooper added. “It’s coming down to the home stretch here for them and they know what’s on the line, and they showed it [on Saturday]. They stepped up when they needed to and made big plays and big shots.”
The Chargers’ gutsy victory came just a couple of days after they knocked off Lake Erie College on the road, 75-59. After falling behind early in the game, the Chargers responded and took their first lead of the game with 15:25 left in the first half, which they never relinquished.
“They hit a couple shots early, took a little lead on us, and we just kept on attacking,” McCauley said. “We played with a bit of tenacity, and we controlled the game.”
“We were really locked in and ready to go,” Dezelski added. “We were able to get it done.” Dezelski turned in another remarkable performance, garnering 25 points on an efficient 69 percent shooting average to go along with his game-high 14 rebounds.
The Chargers now have three games left in the regular season, and none of them will be easy. Following the game tonight at Malone University, the Chargers will host Walsh University on Saturday, the first place team in the South Division of the GLIAC.
“Malone is a game behind us right now and their place was a tough place to play last year,” McCauley said. “Walsh took care of us pretty easily down in their place so I think we’ll be ready for them.”
“They’re two big games,” Dezelski added. “We’ve got to win them both.”
The Chargers don’t expect these final three games to be easy, but are determined to keep their three game winning streak alive.
