Toko Shengelia goes for 26 as Armor sets all-time record for points

Tornike Shengelia scored early, Kris Joseph scored in the middle quarters and then Ramone Moore scored, a lot, late as the Armor beat the Erie Bayhawks, the Knicks' D-League affiliate, 130-112. It was the most points the Armor has ever scored in a single game.

Shengelia finished with 26 points on 9-of-14 overall and dished out six assists in 31 minutes. He scored 13 in the first quarter and had a spectacular alley-oop off a pass from Ben Uzoh. Joseph finished with 21, seven and four, his sixth 20-point effort in eight games. Willie Reed, who's launched a Twitter campaign to get called up, had another big game off the bench: 16 points and three blocks. But Moore, the Temple product, had perhaps the most impressive outing, scoring all of his 20 points in the fourth as the Armor pulled away. D.J. Kennedy led the Bayhawks with 27.

Bobby Marks joined Armor GM Milton Lee at the game. He spoke with Armor play-caller Pete Sousa at halftime.

I came up here, myself with our our general manager for minor league operations, Milton Lee, to see Toko play. also a good gauge to see some of the other guys.

These guys just need to play. the last time Toko was up here, he did real well, but he left with a concussion. He was out for about two weeks. So he just needs to come up here and get his repetitions in, get his stamina back! It's a little bit harder back home to do so. So, it's a good gauge for him.

On why Shengelia was assigned to Springfield

It's a little bit harder this part of the season. We're playing more games and less practicing. For him to get up and play three or four nights is important.

On the rationale for linking up with the Armor

We came up here about three years ago. and it was something that had just been started and we were a little bit behind the eight ball, but yeah, it was a good a thing to do, its a great relationship we have with Springfield.

With Coach MacKinnon and (Assistant) Coach Chris Carrawell extended members of our staff, it's been nothing but good things right now.

On training coaches as well as players

It's a training ground, for our coaches, for our trainer, we can send out own players up here. a lot of the stuff we run in Brooklyn, as far as the sets, they run here. There's familiarity already, a good comfort level.

We try to keep them involved as much as we can, either with the draft workouts or summer league or for camp and things like that. He's also a good sponge as far as seeing what else is out there from a D-League standpoint. From a scouting angle, he's been giving up real good reports on Toko the last couple of days. So it's been an important.

On scouting the D-League

We're all over the place. Milt, he's been up here a bunch. He's been with the team on a bunch of road trips. We have people all over the country. So, we have familiarity not just with Springfield but with all the teams in the league.