Springfield Tops Fort Wayne
December 7, 2012 - NBA G League (G League)
Springfield Armor News Release
Springfield, Mass. - The Springfield Armor, presented by MGM Springfield, outscored the Fort Wayne Mad Ants 31-13 in the decisive third quarter to pick up a 108-100 victory tonight at the MassMutual Center. The Armor improve to 3-1, while the Mad Ants fall to 2-4 on the season.
The Armor came out sluggish tonight and trailed by a game-high 18 points late in the first half before a late scoring burst cut the deficit to 60-49 by halftime. Fort Wayne knocked down 24-of-54 for 44% from the field and forced 10 turnovers to maintain the lead heading into intermission. Shawn Taggart paced the Armor with 13 points in the opening half to help keep his team within striking distance.
Springfield came out hot in the third quarter, opening the frame on a 10-2 run, capped by a Taggart hook shot with 7:01 to go to trim the lead to 62-59. The Armor finally took their first lead of the game, 72-71, on a put-back dunk by Willie Reed with 2:16 to go in the quarter. Reed's basket sparked another 10-2 run to give the Armor an 80-73 lead at the end of the third. Seven players scored in the quarter for Springfield, led by Ben Uzoh's seven points, and the Armor held the Mad Ants to 5-of-21 for 24% from the field.
In the fourth quarter, Fort Wayne got within four, 99-95, with 1:57 to go, but a steal and dunk by Carleton Scott pushed the lead to six and helped the Armor seal their second straight victory in Springfield.
Scott recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to go along with four steals. Uzoh added 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Taggart contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds (eight offensive). James Mays overcame foul trouble to chip in 16 points, Reed tallied 12 points and seven rebounds and Cliff Tucker rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 points off the bench.
The Armor matched their franchise-record for rebounds, 63, which they set in Sunday's victory over Los Angeles.
Fort Wayne had five players score in double figures, led by Ron Howard's 22 points. Walker Russell, Jr. added 16 points and eight assists, former Boston Celtics' forward JaJuan Johnson tallied 18 points and eight rebounds, Mike Anderson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Darryl Partin scored 10 points.
The Armor return to action tomorrow night when they host the Canton Charge at 8:00 pm at the MassMutual Center. The Mad Ants head north to Maine to take on the Red Claws tomorrow at 7:00 pm at the Portland Expo.
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