The home opener was not pretty. After an entertaining first quarter that finished with Maine ahead 31-29, the BayHawks became stagnant on offense and watched Maine light them up from downtown on the other end.
Sometimes, numbers really do tell the story. Take, for example, the 3-point shooting numbers from this game. Erie shot 1-6 from distance. Maine was 16-27, including 6 makes from Billy Thomas (he had 5 in the first half alone) and 5 from Tony Bobbitt.
Alexis Ajinca, on assignment from Charlotte, didn't have a major statistical impact, but anyone watching the game saw that his athleticism and quickness left John Bryant out of position time and time again, scrambling to find his man after hedging on the high pick 'n roll. Jarvis Gunter was much more effective defensively against the quicker opposing front line that Maine had.
A 2-point deficit at the end of the first quarter was up to 7 by half and 14 at the end of three. Early in the fourth, the Red Claws put it permanently out of reach with their relentless barrage of 3s. Offensively, the BayHawks struggles seemed to mount as time went on.
Aside from Jackie Manuel and Ivan Harris, no one shot the ball particularly well for Erie. Donell Taylor was a woeful 3-18. Alade Aminu and John Bryant struggled mightily up front as well, combining to shoot just 6-18 from the field. Jarvis Gunter had an efficient 14 points on 6-9 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds in 22 minutes, but it wasn't nearly enough.
Erie couldn't have picked a worse night to suffer their first blowout of the season. More than 5,000 fans were on hand to witness the BayHawks' beatdown at the hands of the expansion Red Claws. The BayHawks will have a chance at revenge on Wednesday when they once again host the Red Claws. But it will take some major adjustments in both the scheme and execution if the next encounter is to finish any differently. In the meantime, the BayHawks have a lot of work to do. With the loss, Erie drops to 2-3 on the year, and Maine improves to 4-1.
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