Celtics Sweep Mad Ants At Expo

PORTLAND, ME – Behind its second-highest scoring output of the season with seven players in double figures, the Maine Celtics held off a fourth-quarter surge to defeat the Indiana Mad Ants, 129-122. 

DJ Steward scored 23 points and dished out seven assists to lead Maine (4-4). Drew Peterson totaled 21 points, six rebounds and four assists while Jordan Schakel put up 20 and six rebounds. JD Davison dropped 15 points and 10 assists for his 14^th double-double of the season, adding two steals and four blocks. Kylor Kelley turned in 12 points and two blocks and James Banks III had 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his first double-double in a Celtics uniform. Jordan Walsh added 11 points and five rebounds. 

Kyle Mangas scored a game-high 29 points for Indiana (4-4). Isaiah Wong registered 23 points, five rebounds and four assists and Will Vorhees chipped in 19 points and four assists. Craig Sword scored 13 points. Stephan Hicks and Jordan Bell each scored 12, with Bell grabbing nine rebounds. Elfrid Payton notched 10 points and nine assists. 

Payton sliced through the lane for a layup to open the scoring, and Davison countered with a corner three to kick off the day for Maine. Indiana built a 9-7 lead by the first timeout break before Snell cashed a three off an offensive rebound that put the Celtics in front just ahead of the six-minute mark. The Mad Ants rebuilt a small lead late in the quarter, but Snell’s second triple of the opening frame knotted it up at 20. After a back-and-forth first that saw eight lead changes, it was all square at 27-27 heading into the second. 

After a transition dunk from Bell, Kelley ripped off an 8-0 rolo run, culminating in a thunderous baseline slam that gave Maine a 35-29 lead. Energy on the defensive end saw a noticeable uptick in the second quarter, an effort reminiscent of yesterday’s victory. A floater from Schakel followed by a corner triple from Rob Edwards extended the lead to double digits, 42-29, as the Celtics slowly began to out-shoot the Mad Ants. Indiana entered the locker room with three made 3-pointers to Maine’s 11. Steward scored eight unanswered to end the half as the Celtics cruised into the locker room up 65-49. 

The Celtics held serve as the second half got underway. Walsh’s left wing three pushed the lead north of 20 points, 78-57, with Snell sinking his third three of the day soon after. Maine went up by as many as 29 points in the third before the Mad Ants began to slowly chip away at the deficit. A 12-5 run to close the third made it close but Maine had already done its damage by that point, putting up its second 40-point quarter of the regular season to take a 105-83 advantage into the fourth. 

With the efforts of Vorhees and Hicks breathing life into the Mad Ants, a three from each of them brought the Mad Ants within 21 a few minutes apart. From there, Wong splashed home a three to pull Indiana within 20, 114-96. Mangas hit one off the window to bring the Mad Ants within 14 points inside six minutes before Banks briefly quelled a 12-2 run with a huge stop at the rim that led to an and-1 for Davison. Costly fouls from Maine allowed Indiana to hang around, and eventually, make a massive push in the final minutes. 

Another big run, this time 15-2, brought the Mad Ants within four after Maine entered the final frame leading by 22. Davison’s step-back three clanked off the back rim but Steward was there to clean it up, skying from the middle of the paint to tip in the miss and give Maine a six-point cushion, 125-119, with 37.2 second on the clock. In another critical point of the game, Banks came up clutch defensively, snaring a heavily contested rebound then going down and making both free throws to push the lead to seven with 23.9 to go. Indiana outscored the Celtics 39-24 in the fourth quarter, but Maine had just enough in the tank to stave off the furious comeback and collect a second-straight win. 

Maine now has four days off before the Celtics host the Sioux Falls Skyforce for a two-game set next weekend, Jan. 19 at 7:00 PM and Jan. 21 at 1:00 PM.