Springfield led by as many as 9 in the fourth quarter, but a late Charge rally sent them to their second win over the Armor in less than a week.
James Mays, right, was a beast for Springfield in a losing effort Friday night.
By JIM SMITH
CANTON, Ohio – Entering Friday night, neither the Springfield Armor nor Canton Charge had been able to win consecutive games in their series history.
The streak is over.
The Charge defeated the Armor 87-81 at the Canton Civic Center just six days after they pummeled the Armor by 30 points in Springfield.
The Armor were held to 30 percent shooting in an ice cold first quarter Friday.
However, Springfield’s Willie Reed kept his team in the contest by scoring eight points in just five minutes of the first.
The Charge, led by a balanced attack in which Jon Leuer, Arinze Onuaku and Micheal Eric all scored 4 points early, had a 19-16 lead after one quarter.
In a spirited second quarter featuring six lead changes and five ties, the Armor managed to stay close and trailed just 39-37 at the half.
Springfield’s James Mays logged a double-double by halftime with 10 points and an impressive 16 rebounds at the break.
Onuaku led all first-half scorers with 11 points.
The third quarter featured six more ties, but a 15-8 run by the Armor propelled them to a 64-59 lead heading into the fourth.
Reed had already notched a season-high 18 points by then, while Canton’s Leuer piled up 16 points and 13 rebounds and Onuaku 13 and 11.
While leading by as many as 9 in the fourth, Springfield allowed Canton to rally late and take a 78-77 lead with 1:35 left on a Jorge Gutierrez layup.
The Charge never trailed after that.
The rally had been highlighted moments earlier by one of Leuer’s numerous spectacular dunks.
Leuer, who was sent to Canton from the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers last week, was the game’s high scorer with 28 points to go with 16 rebounds.
Onuaku added 18 and 16.
Springfield was led by Reed’s 23 points. Mays finished with 18 points and 19 rebounds.