Chargers' Boys Lose Big at DMC, 82-44

The ACGC boys basketball team suffered its worst loss in three seasons when it was manhandled by Des Moines Christian last night, 82-44, in a game played at DMC. The Chargers "hung in there" for the first quarter, trailing by an 18-13 score. But beyond that the Lions increased their lead substantially as it held a 44-27 halftime lead and a 62-35 lead after three quarters.

"We allowed too many fast break points and points in the paint," charger coach Lance Kading said following the game.

"Also, we weren't able to force DMC into very many turnovers. When you consider all of those factors and add in how good a team DMC is, it makes for a lopsided game," Kading said.

The main scorer in the paint for DMC was Adam Witte who tallied 13 points in the first half and finished with a game high 20 points. The stocky Witte was able to consistently use his body when he posted up and maneuvered his way to the basket once he had the ball.

ACGC never led in this one as it fell behind early at 12-4 and never was in contention beyond the first quarter. The Lions scored 26 second quarter points, as they missed just once in ten attempts. Their shooing inside the arc was an amazing 76.5% for the game. They also connected on 8 of 17 treys for 47%. Overall the Lions field goal percentage was 67%. The Chargers were unable match the strong shooting performance by the Lions.

ACGC struggled from the floor, hitting 28% of their shots for the game which included 6 makes in 21 three point tries. Free throw accuracy was about normal, as the team shot 59% from the line.

Miles Kading and Brock Littler led the Charger scoring with 17 and 11 points respectively. There weren't the normal opportunities to rebound considering the high shooting percentage by the Lions. Ben Marsh, Kading, and Littler each snared 4 rebounds. Marsh led in assists with 3.

"We have two more road games this week, so we are going to work on correcting some of those things in practice and look forward to getting back on the court to compete on Friday and Saturday," coach Kading concluded.

With the loss the Chargers overall record stands at 6-2 which includes a 4-2 mark in conference play. The Chargers are on the road for the rest of the week, as they travel to Madrid on Friday and to Exira-EHK for an afternoon doubleheader which begins with a 3 PM girls game.

Score by quarter:

ACGC 13 14 8 9--44

DMC 18 26 18 20--82

ACGC statistics: (TP-REB-ASTS-STLS) Marsh(9-4-3-0) Solorzano(0-1-0-0) Bunde(2-1-1-0) MKading(17-4-1-1) NKading(0-0-1-0) PJacobe(0-1-0-0) Littler(11-4-0-1) Chance(0-0-0-0) Spack(0-0-0-0) Policky(0-2-0-0) Weinkoetz(5-1-1-1)