The Canton Charge fell on the road to the Erie BayHawks 116-110 on Friday night. Canton currently sits as the first of two wild card teams in the Eastern Conference for the NBA D-League playoff race with 11 games to play.
The game's turning point came with Canton leading 68-59 early in the third quarter, the BayHawks rolled off a 13-2 run over a span of 4:47 to tie the game at 71-71. The hosts then continued to make their push by holding the visitors scoreless over the next 3:05 and increasing their lead by as many as seven. Erie limited the Charge to 5-of-18 shooting (28%) in the third and forced five turnovers for seven points to take a 82-79 lead into the fourth.
Canton got within a single possession on five separate occasions in the fourth quarter, but Erie found a rhythm offensively by hitting 64% of their shots and led the entire period. Peyton Siva and Seth Curry paced the BayHawks' fourth quarter attack with 14 and 13 points respectively. The loss snaps a seven-game winning streak for the Charge against the BayHawks, with Canton coming into tonight having won 12 of their last 13 meetings with Erie.
Canton's Arinze Onuaku tied for the D-League lead with his 26th double-double in 33 games, posting 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting with 14 boards and two steals in 38 minutes. James Singleton netted a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with 10 boards in 33 minutes. Brandon Paul scored 17 points in 23 minutes, while Chris Crawford added 12 points and two steals in 33 minutes.
Erie's Seth Curry scored a game-high 33 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting and 11-of-11 from the free-throw line in 39 minutes. Peyton Siva scored 21 points with six assists and five steals in 40 minutes. The BayHawks as a team converted 32-of-34 attempts from the free-throw line (94%).
The Charge finish the weekend with a matchup at the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (NBA affiliate) on Saturday, March 7th at 7:00 p.m.
**Canton Charge press release
