You'll have to forgive Charger basketball fans if their fingernails seem a bit shorter today than normal, as the Charger faithful witnessed the proverbial "nail biter" in Coon Rapids last night. In a game that saw saw five ties and seven lead changes in the second half, the ACGC boys lost a heartbreaker to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 42-41, on the Crusader parquet floor.

When Crusader Gabe Obert scored to give CRB the lead at 42-41 the clock showed 1:47 remaining in the game. It turned out to be the last score of the game. After the Chargers failed to score on their next possession, CRB held the ball until eighteen ticks showed on the clock when ACGC was forced to foul. The Crusaders twice missed the front end of a one and one free throw situation, giving the Chargers the last possession of the game and a chance to win it at the end. Following a timeout, ACGC sophomore Miles Kading lofted a shot from the corner that hit the rim as the final horn sounded, but failed to fall through the net. The scoreboard still read 42-41 in favor of CRB and the thirty minute drive from Coon Rapids to Guthrie Center no doubt seemed much longer to Charger players and coaches.

After the Chargers took a 7-6 lead at the end the first quarter and scored the first points of the second stanza, the Charger guns went silent for over four minutes and the Crusaders took the biggest lead of the game at 16-9. Two three pointers by Eli Kading in the last two minutes of the half narrowed the gap to 22-19 by the halftime break.

Neither team was able to put together a run in the second half, with CRB holding the biggest lead at 25-21 two and a half minutes into the third quarter. It was after that that fans witnessed the five ties and seven lead changes. It truly was anybody's ball game until the very end.

Charger shooting from two point range was a respectable 48% on ten makes in twenty one tries. Three point baskets were more difficult to come by, as ACGC connected on just five of twenty one attempts from beyond the arc for 24%. ACGC was perfect from the charity stripe, hitting on all six of its tries.

Quynton Younker and Miles Kading both scored in double figures, with "Q" netting twelve points and the younger Kading scoring ten. Younker also led the team in rebounds with eight, while Kading and Bryce Littler each had three assists. Eli Kading was tops in steals with three.

The non-conference loss drops the team's season record to 2-6 overall, with a 1-5 mark in the WCAC. The team will be in action again tonight when it travels to Truro to face Interstate 35 High School in a WCAC girls'/boys' doubleheader. Girls' tipoff is scheduled for 6 PM. Go Chargers!

Score by quarter:

ACGC 7 12 10 12--41

CRB 6 16 7 13--42

Box score:

REB

FG 3Pt FT O-D A S TP

EKading 2-6 2-5 0-0 2-3 2 3 6

BMarsh 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 2

Crawford 0-4 0-2 2-2 1-0 0 1 2

LMarsh 0-4 0-3 2-2 0-1 0 1 2

MKading 4-11 2-7 0-0 0-2 3 1 10

Littler 2-5 1-1 2-2 2-2 3 2 7

Younker 6-11 0-3 0-0 1-7 1 1 12