Game Review: Erie BayHawks 108, Springfield Armor 94

I don't know if the BayHawks were trying to get off of Santa's naughty list or what, but they played with an energy and efficiency unseen thus far this season in a convincing 14-point win over the Armor. Erie scored the game's first basket on a layup by Jackie Manuel, raced out to a 10-2 start and never looked back. The BayHawks never trailed in the game and led by as many as 23.

Erie was extremely effective in two of the three areas I highlighted as keys to success in my preview earlier today: getting out in transition and scoring points in the paint. Unfortunately, I don't have any numbers on fast break points and points in the paint, but having watched the game on FutureCast, I can attest to the fact that Erie ran early and often and made a point to drop it in low when they were forced to operate in the halfcourt setting.

The one area where Erie struggled was the lone bright spot for Springfield. Morris Almond scored 37 of Springfield's 94 points, shooting 14-22 from the field, 2-4 from 3, and 7-7 from the free throw line. JamesOn Curry was the only other Armor in double figures with 14 points on 6-9 from the field.

Of the seven BayHawks that saw more than 10 minutes of playing time, all seven had positive contributions. Here's the lowdown on each of them:

• Donell Taylor really made an effort to get to the rack and it paid off as he scored a team-high 24 points on 11-19 shooting. He played a good all-around game, adding 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals with 3 turnovers.
• John Bryant looked like a different player from the one that struggled against Maine last week. Springfield had no answer from him inside. He took a few too many jumpers for my liking, but he was on target most of the night. His final numbers: 19 points on 9-17 shooting, 13 rebounds, 2 turnovers, and 1 blocked shot.
• Jackie Manuel continues to be the iron man for the BayHawks, playing a team-high 44:39. He had his struggles defending Mo Almond, but that's nothing to hang your head about. On the flipside, he had another good offensive game, which is becoming more and more what is expected from him. He had 20 points on 9-16 shooting to go along with 9 rebounds (4 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals, and just 1 turnover.
  
• Alade Aminu got the start tonight at the power forward spot and made it work. He scored 22 points on 10-17 shooting, including a series of emphatic dunks. Although he had a team-high 5 turnovers, he atoned with 5 steals of his own and 8 rebounds.
• Ivan Harris played just 17 minutes, and although he struggled shooting overall at 4-14, he did convert a team-high 3-7 from 3-point range, accounting for all but two of Erie's 3-point attempts in the game.
• And finally, the point guards. If not for a botched lob pass by Cliff Clinkscales in the final seconds of a game that was all but decided, Erie's point guard tandem would've played a full game of mistake-free ball. As it stands, Clinkscales and Cedric Jackson still combined for an astounding 24 assists and just the one lone turnover. Jackson's 13 assists are even more impressive considering he did his damage in less than 20 minutes of game time.

Erie improves to 3-7 with the victory, snapping their five-game losing streak. Springfield falls to 1-8. The BayHawks next return home, where they are 0-3 on the year, to host back-to-back games against the Iowa Energy on Saturday, Dec. 26, and Sunday, Dec. 27. The Energy defeated the BayHawks twice this past weekend and currently sit atop the D-League standings at 8-1.