The game was the first on Springfield's longest road trip of the season.
Springfield's Lance Hurdle drives to the basket Wednesday against Erie at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. By KYLE LEATH
TULSA, Okla. – The Springfield Armor kicked off their longest road trip of the season Saturday night with an 87-76 loss at the hands of the Tulsa 66ers at the Tulsa Convention Center.
It was the first of three meetings with the 66ers (6-4), who snapped a two-game losing streak with the win. All games will be in Tulsa this season.
The loss drops the Armor (5-3) one game behind Eastern Conference leader Iowa, a winner over Reno on Saturday night.
“They really did a nice job of clamping down on us defensively,” Armor coach Robert MacKinnon said. “We never were really able to get much going in the half court and relied on a lot of jump shots. That is hard to do, especially on the road.
“Obviously we would have liked to get the road trip off to a better start,” MacKinnon added. “We have to regroup and move on. “
The Armor, who gave up an uncharacteristic 16 offensive rebounds, trailed most of the first half and saw Tulsa, 14th in the D-League in 3-point shooting, go 4 for 4 from behind the arc in building a 45-41 lead that was cut to four on a Eugene Spates (10 points, 11 rebounds) 3-pointer of his own, his first of the year, at the buzzer prior to intermission.
A layup by Tulsa’s Xavier Alexander (21 points) at the 9:22 mark of the first quarter put the 66ers up 6-4, a lead that the 66ers would never relinquish.
A layup by Jonathan Thomas (13 points), with 7:02 to play in the third quarter, closed the gap to 49-47, but the 66ers would go on a 15-3 run over the next six minutes to open a 64-50 lead on a layup by Brian Barkdoll (9 points)
“Their run in the third quarter took some wind out of us,” MacKinnon said. “We were never really able to get back into it after that.”
The Armor struggled from the field throughout the game, especially trying to get the ball inside. On the night, Springfield shot 34 percent on 32 of 93 shooting.
Lance Hurdle, who came into the game averaging 19.1 points, good for eighth in league scoring, struggled throughout the contest. His first basket did not come until the 3:59 mark of the second quarter when he hit a 3-pointer from the right wing. He would end the night with a season-low seven points.
“I never got into a groove, that is for sure,” Hurdle said. “I have to be better and hold up my part for the team.”
Springfield’s 76 points, was a team season low as well and 29 points under its season average of 105.3 points per game.
Jamar Brown was a bright spot for the Armor with a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds. L.D. Williams chipped in 15 points.
The Armor’s road trip continues on Sunday night as they travel to Fort Wayne to take on the Mad Ants at 6 p.m.