It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Enduring a fourth game in six days and third consecutive matchup against a top five program, Heritage Hall struggled early in a hostile road environment at Douglass. The Trojans leveraged the home court atmosphere – dim lighting, blaring beats of the drumline, a loud and talented pep band, and an energetic crowd – to push their lead to 18-13 after one quarter.

But the battle-tested Chargers found a second wind after the first break. Already warmed up from an 8 point first quarter, Sayvon Milton knocked down two three-pointers, two free throws, and a deuce to register 18 points in the scorebook for the first half. On one of the wildest plays in the game, William McDonald beat the Trojan's full-court press down the sideline and was intentionally fouled scoring a layup. While the crowd clamored for an "And 1" plus the resulting free throws, officials ruled that the intentional foul occurred after the shot. McDonald was credited two points for the layup and then converted one of two free throws awarded for the intentional foul. The Hall's impressive 14-3 run boosted them a 27-21 halftime lead.

Douglass brought some heat out of the locker room and threatened to swing the momentum early, but Les Thomas' conventional three and William McDonald's unconventional three helped the Hall cling to a narrow 33-29 lead a few minutes into the third period. Then the Chargers took over, scoring three unanswered buckets – a Milton baseline 10-footer, a Michael McLaughlin elbow jumper, and a Thomas run-out layup – to extend the lead to 39-29. Douglass star Coryon Mason stopped the bleeding with a nifty reverse layup, but Thomas pushed the ball ahead and found Milton in the corner for an answer trey. After Jon Matthews put back his own miss, the third quarter closed with the Hall commanding a 44-31 lead.

Fueled by great ball movement, defensive rebounding, and patience on offense, the Chargers dominated the fourth quarter 19-10. Milton finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Thomas scored 16, and McDonald tallied 10. Jon Matthews dished five assists and made 5 steals to go with 6 points. Charger reserves Jake LeForce, Ethan Creamer, Matthew Williams, Rives Mitchell, and Jack Griffin played a successful game of keep-away to run out the final minute and a half, closing out the frustrated Trojans, 63-41.

The now #7 ranked Chargers improved to 6-4 as they return home for a showdown with the #4 Harrah Panthers on Tuesday. The game will be carried on ChargerVision and is also being featured as The Sports Animal Game of the Week on radio 98.1 FM.