Charlotte Hornets: Lucas' Layup Dooms the Greensboro Swarm in Close Loss to Erie
After a poor-shooting first half, the Charlotte Hornets’ D-League affiliate fought all the way back but eventually fell to the Erie Bayhawks.
Anthony Brown had 24 points and nine boards for Erie, Kalin Lucas had 19 points and six boards, including the game-winning layup with six seconds left, and the Erie Bayhawks won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Archie Goodwin had 21 points and five rebounds, Perry Ellis continued his strong play with 17 points and eight boards off the bench, but it wasn’t enough as the Greensboro Swarm (11-22) lost yet another road game as they fell to Erie, 91-90.
Veteran Damien Wilkins had 16 points and was the last double-figure scorer for Greensboro, who only shot 29-81 (35.8%) for the game. The Swarm only scored 11 points in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 17 in the second.
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However, they outscored the Bayhawks 26-22 in the second frame and only trailed 47-37 at the half. Greensboro also outscored Erie 23-20 in the third, on the strength of points in the paint. The Swarm outscored the Bayhawks 46-36 in the paint for the game.
The end of the game was full of theatrics for both teams. Anthony Brown hit two free throws to tie the game at 88 apiece with 49 ticks left. On the ensuing Swarm possession, Goodwin hit a contested layup in the lane to give the Swarm a 90-88 lead with 26 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Brown was fouled and split his free throws, leaving the score at 90-89 in my favor. The fight for the loose ball on the second miss resulted in a jump ball at midcourt. Erie won the jump ball, and Kalin Lucas scooted around a screen to lay in the game-winner with six seconds left.
Greensboro called timeout, and Ellis found Cheick Diallo underneath on a nice backdoor cut, but Diallo was blocked with two seconds left. With no timeouts remaining, Greensboro inbounded to Goodwin, who took a tough fadeaway midrange jumper that missed short as the buzzer sounded.
Greensboro will have to have a short-term memory loss as they will go on the road to face the Grand Rapids Drive on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Facebook Live.
