SPRINGFIELD, Mass — The Maine Red Claws were able to cling to a slim lead in the final seconds to defeat the Springfield Armor 113-111 on Tuesday night at the MassMutual Center.
The Red Claws came out of the gate hot, shooting .565 from the floor while holding Springfield to .429 from the field. Chris Babb scored 10 of his team-high 21 points in the period, connecting on 4-5 field goal attempts, including 2-3 three-point field goals.
Maine pushed their lead to 16 points, holding a 31-15 lead on a Tyler Brown three-point field goal. Springfield answered with a quick 5-0 run to cut the Maine lead to 31-20 after the first quarter.
Springfield kept the momentum in the second quarter, hitting 13-22 (.591) field goals and scoring nine points off of six Maine turnovers. Larry Anderson led the Armor with 11 points in the quarter off the bench. With the Red Claws holding a 12-point advantage, the Armor out-scored Maine 27-18 in the final 9:26 of the quarter to cut the Red Claws’ lead to just three points, 56-53.
The Red Claws came out of the locker room and out-scored the Armor in the paint, 18-10, and second chance points, 10-2, while out-rebounding Springfield 12-7. Tied at 64 with 7:51 left in the quarter, the Red Claws went on a 17-7 run to take a 81-71 lead on a Damen Bell-Holter bank shot with 3:48 remaining.
The Armor answered with a 11-0 run to take a 82-81 lead on a Larry Anderson three-point field goal at the 1:40 mark. Maine was able to rebuttal with a 7-2 run to end the quarter and take a 88-84 lead into the final 12 minutes of regulation.
Maine kept their momentum going, extending their run to 15-6 to hold a 96-88 advantage with 9:32 remaining. Springfield continued to hang around, going on a 8-2 run to cut the Maine lead to just two points on a L.D. Williams three-point field goal. Maine pushed their lead back to seven points using a 5-0 run capped by a Tyshawn Taylor 19-foot jump shot.
The Armor cut the Red Claws lead to just one point twice in the final minute on a Adonis Thomas three-point field goal and a lay-up from Darius Johnson-Odom, but Maine was able to hold Springfield off with a Tyshawn Taylor jump shot and a Chris Wright dunk.
Trailing by two points with three seconds to play, Larry Anderson stole a Maine inbound pass and put up a desperation 40-foot three-point field goal that fell short.
Former Armor point guard Tyshawn Taylor had 16 points and five assists off the bench for Maine. Other players in double figures for the Red Claws included Chris Wright (18 points), Daniel Orton (16 points) and Frank Gaines (14 points).
Darius Johnson-Odom scored a game-high 30 points for the Armor, while Larry Anderson recorded 21 points off the bench for Springfield. Adonis Thomas scored 17 points, connecting on 4-5 three-point field goals.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
