Knicks Pull Away in Fourth Quarter to Beat Celtics

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The Westchester Knicks pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Maine Celtics 123-109 on Friday night.

Maine slipped to 6-8 after their third consecutive loss. Westchester improved to 9-5 in the regular season. JD Davison led Maine with 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jay Scrubb added 20 points off the bench and Drew Peterson added 14 points for Maine.

The Celtics were tasked with stopping the G League's top offense in Westchester, who averages 120 points per game this season. Five Knicks players scored 16 points or more to keep Westchester on their season scoring average. Jacob Toppin led all scorers with 31 points on 13-21 shooting from the field. Led by a 28 point, 18 rebound double-double by Moses Brown, Westchester outrebounded Maine 49-35. Tyler Kolek also finished with a double-double with 16 points and 12 assists.

Anton Watson and Drew Peterson each hit a pair of threes early as Maine led 13-9 at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter. Peterson was 4-for-5 from deep in the first half. A lay-up by Tristan Enaruna at the 7:48 mark of the opening quarter capped off a 9-2 run by the Celtics to lead 24-17 with 3:53 to go. Maine was lights out as a team from beyond the arc. The Celtics connected on 7-9 shots (77.8%) and led Westchester 35-28 after the first quarter.

Hot shooting continued to start the second quarter as Jordan Schakel connected on his second three to grow Maine's lead up to 10. The Celtics led by as many as 12 in the first half as Maine shot 11-20 (55%) from three in the first half. A four-foot jump shot by Tyler Kolek cut the Maine lead to five with 4:30 to play. After Peterson answered with another triple, buckets by Chuma Okeke and Jacob Toppin helped Westchester pull within three, and Maine called timeout with 3:47 remaining. An explosive dunk by Davison less than a minute later kept the Knicks at bay as Davison scored 15 in the first half. Toppin responded with a two-handed flush to give Westchester their first lead of the second quarter, 64-63 with just over two minutes to play. Westchester outscored Maine 43-33 in the second quarter and led the Celtics 70-68 at halftime. Toppin led all scorers with 17 first-half points and Moses Brown added 14 for the Knicks. Jay Scrubb and Peterson each added 12 points for Maine.

After a high-flying first half, the Celtics and Knicks combined to score just seven points through the first three minutes of the third quarter. Maine was just 3-10 from three in the third as Westchester went on a 16-0 run to claim a 86-73 lead, their largest of the game. Picking up where he left off in the first half, Scrubb scored eight consecutive points to help lead a 15-4 run for Maine. An eight-foot jump shot by Schakel tied the game up again at 90 with 1:46 left in the quarter. Davison and Scrubb each had 20 points through three quarters to lead Maine as the Celtics trailed the Knicks 93-92 at the end of the third quarter.

Davison drove and scored to start the fourth quarter and give Maine their first lead of the second half. Westchester outscored Maine 17-5 after that bucket, and a follow up by Brown brought Westchester's lead back up to double digits, 110-99 with 6:03 left in the game. After making 11 shots from deep in the first half, Maine made just five in the second half as the Knicks would keep Maine at bay for the rest of the game enroute to a 123-109 win over the Celtics. Maine finished the game shooting 41-90 (45.6%) from the floor including 16-43 (37.2%) from distance. The Knicks were 50-97 (51.5%) from the floor and 12-39 (30.8%) from three.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: JD Davison was the Player of the Game after leading Maine with 26 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor. Davison also recorded five assists, five rebounds, and one steal.

THE ROAD AHEAD: Maine returns to the Portland Expo on Sunday, January 26 at 1 p.m. against the Osceola Magic.