Canton Charge press release:
A late swing in momentum saw the Canton Charge fall to the Springfield Armor, 110-103, at the MassMutual Center on Friday night. Canton is now 12-8 overall this season and 9-5 in the East Division play, while the Armor improved to 6-14.
Both squads got off to a hot start shooting from the get-go, hitting over 50% of attempts from the field in the first. Canton assisted eight of their first 11 buckets, but Springfield had the slight edge at the end of the opening quarter, 28-27. Kevin Jones netted nine points on 4-of-9 shooting early.
The Charge were 11-of-20 in the second as a team (55%) with seven assists and used an 11-3 run in the final 2:45 of the half to take a 57-50 lead. The half overall featured eight lead changes and seven ties. Carrick Felix (11), Jones (11) and Gilbert Brown (10) all hit double digit scoring by the break.
The visitors lead by as many as 10 in the third, scoring 16 of their 25 in the paint and held an 82-76 advantage heading into the game's final frame. Before tonight, the Charge were 10-3 when tied or leading going into the fourth quarter.
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After trailing by as many as seven early in the fourth, Springfield came back down the stretch to outscore Canton 28-14 thanks in part to limiting them to 5-of-14 from the floor and forcing four turnovers down the stretch. The Charge are now 2-5 this season when their opponent scores over 100 points after coming into the game the third-ranked defense in the D-League, allowing 97.8 points per game.
Jones finished with a team-high 20 points with four rebounds and a steal in 34 minutes. On assignment from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Felix netted 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds and four steals in 38 minutes. In his first game back after spending the last five on the inactive list nursing a turf toe injury, Arinze Onuaku posted 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes off the bench. Brown added 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 32 minutes
The Armor were led by Adonis Thomas' game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting with six rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes. Justin Johnson scored 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting with four assists in 31 minutes. Larry Anderson added 12 points and four steals in 32 minutes off the bench as a total of seven Springfield players scored in double figures.
The two teams will meet again in Springfield on Sunday, January 19 at 3:00 p.m. The Charge return home to the Civic Center for an afternoon contest on Monday, January 20 at 3:00 p.m. against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
