The Armor had their home win streak stopped at seven by the Charge.
Former UMass Minuteman Dante Milligan boxes out Springfield Armor center Jamar Brown during Thursday night's D-League game between Springfield and Canton. SPRINGFIELD - Hard to imagine, but the usually defensively-sound Springfield Armor let a 24-point lead slip away, falling 106-101 to the Canton Charge Thursday night at the MassMutual Center.
The loss was the third straight for the Armor (21-16) and snapped the team's home win streak at seven games.
A great start for the Armor was all but forgotten as the Charge rallied to win in the fourth, the game hinging on an offensive foul call against Armor guard Jerry Smith with 16 seconds to play.
"I've never seen anything like that in my life,'' Smith said. "I've been playing a long time and for a ref to dictate the outcome of the game like that is a really tough pill to swallow.
"I'm the last person to blame the officials, I just play ball, but for the game to end like that, that's just horrible,'' Smith, who fouled out on the play, added.
The Armor trailed 102-101 and were inbounding the ball on the Canton end line when Smith was called for a foul for fighting through a pick. Springfield was forced to foul after that, T.J. Campbell hitting two free throws.
A final effort to tie the game by Lance Hurdle was off the mark.
"It is what it is, I just think it's a shame the way the game ended,'' Armor coach Bob MacKinnon said. "It's a shame the game has to be decided not by the players.''
The game was officiated with just two referees, the third taking ill before the game and returning to the hotel.
The Armor played the game minus two starters. JamesOn Curry was out with an injury and is day-to-day while Foote, according to his Twitter account, has earned a call-up to the New Orleans Hornets on a 10-day contract.
Foote is just the second Armor player to get an NBA call-up. Curry was called up by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009-2010 season. Dennis Horner saw some time with the New Jersey Nets this season, but he earned the job through the preseason camp and isn't considered a call-up.
"He's on his way right now to meet the Hornets in Denver,'' MacKinnon said. "We got a call at 4:15 today. We are extremely happy for Jeff and that is great news for the Springfield Armor.''
A record-setting first quarter by the Armor was neutralized by an equally poor second quarter, but the Armor escaped the half with a 63-55 lead.
The Charge (20-18) added five new players to the roster on Tuesday, including the assignment of Luke Harangody and Christian Eyenga from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and were playing with that new rotation for the first time.
Springfield took advantage, racking-up a franchise-record 46 points in the first quarter. The Armor had a couple of 9-0 runs and a 10-0 in the quarter, with L.D. Williams, Hurdle and Smith all scoring 10 points.
The Armor shot 68 percent from the floor and had nine assists and just one turnovers as it appeared they were going to coast through the evening on the misfortune of the Charge.
The tables turned in the second quarter as the Armor were only able to make 5 of 24 field goals while Charge were just heating up. The Charge opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run to get the lead to 11, 48-37. A 9-0 run a few minutes later had the Charge trailing 55-50.
Canton got as close as four, but a jumper and a pair of free throws by Lance Hurdle made it 63-55 at the half.
But the Armor continued to shoot poorly, leading the Charge to take the lead by the end of the third quarter, 83-79. A strong start to the fourth saw the Armor regain the lead but the Charge fought back, Campbell's 3-pointer giving Canton the lead for good.
Dennis Horner led Springfield with 23 points and 14 rebounds, Hurdle scored 19 and Williams dropped in 18.
Harangody had 24 and Alan Anderson 23 for Canton.