Furious Comeback Falls Just Short

PORTLAND, ME – The Maine Celtics trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half and stormed all the way back to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Capital City Go-Go regained control during crunch time to earn the victory. 

JD Davison led Maine (2-2) with 27 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. Drew Peterson tallied 18 points and four rebounds, Jordan Schakel scored 17 points and Brandon Slater turned in 17 points, including 14 in the third quarter, along with two steals and a block. Jordan Walsh had 13 points and eight rebounds and DJ Steward logged 11 points and eight rebounds. 

Ryan Rollins scored 25 points to lead Capital City (3-1). Devon Dotson added 23 points, six rebounds and five assists. Davion Mintz registered 19 points and Jules Bernard chipped in 15 points. Hamidou Diallo finished with 12 points, two steals and two blocks. 

Diallo dropped in a floater to open the scoring for Capital City before Walsh canned an above-the-break three to put Maine on the board. The Go-Go went on an 8-0 run to get in front, getting up and down the floor quickly with the help of a couple Celtics turnovers, building an early 16-8 lead. The remainder of the first continued to favor the Go-Go, which started the game 7-11 from the field en route to a 31-20 lead after the opening frame. 

A deep three from Schakel slimmed the deficit to 10 points early in the second as Jordan Jackson’s energy and effort gave the Celtics a spark defensively, tallying a block and a steal that led to an open-court layup within five minutes of action. The three-ball kept the Celtics afloat in the first half, with Schakel going 3-4 from range to balance out a rough night at the rim for Maine. Capital City’s lead ballooned beyond 20 points, though Walsh’s three just ahead of the buzzer cut it back to 20, 62-42 at halftime. The Celtics went into the locker room with seven made 3-pointers and only eight makes from inside the arc. 

The Celtics came out of the locker room with a renewed energy, chipping away at the deficit with more efficient scoring from 2-point range. Slater made a 1-for-2 that made it a 14-point game, 73-59, and after a small run from Capital City an and-one from Slater made it a 13-point game, now 85-72. Davison drilled a deep-range pull-up three, pulling the Celtics back within single digits as part of a 29-16 run that spanned nearly half the quarter. Maine ended up outscoring the Go-Go 43-29 in the third to get within six, 91-85, in the first 40-point quarter of the season. 

A high-arching three from Schakel blew the lid off the Expo and made it a one-point game, 91-90, within the first minute of the fourth quarter. Capital City widened the gap a bit, going back up by six before Bernard suffered an ankle injury and Diallo was assessed a flagrant foul closing out on a Davison jumper, swinging the momentum back towards Maine.  

Jackson came through again, this time offensively with a pair of huge buckets to put Maine in front, 97-96, its first lead since 5-4 in the game’s opening minutes. Steward hit a three and then drove for a right-handed finish to give the Celtics a four-point cushion, 104-100, with exactly six minutes remaining. After an entire quarter’s worth of clutch plays from Maine, the Go-Go fired back with a 7-0 run in crunch time, retaking the lead on a three from John Butler Jr – only his second make of the night. Going small in crunch time allowed the Celtics to go five-out, space the floor and play with pace to try and maintain the run, but the Go-Go responded just in time. Rollins buried a contested three as the clock ticked under a minute to put Capital City up six, and then Dotson went 4-4 from the line to seal the deal. 

Maine is off for the weekend before picking it back up on the road against the Long Island Nets on Monday, Jan. 8 in Uniondale, N.Y.