Celtics Hang On To Sweep Wolves
By Maine Celtics Staff /February 1, 2025
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Portland, ME - The Maine Celtics got crucial crunch-time points to hold on and defeat the Iowa Wolves Friday night, 103-94 at the Portland Expo.
Maine (8-9) completes the two-game sweep of Iowa after taking them down on Wednesday night. The Celtics were led by Two-Way Player JD Davison who scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half to go with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Baylor Scheierman added 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Anton Watson scored 11 points. Jordan Schakel scored 10 points off the bench.
Iowa (2-12) was led by Tristen Newton with 24 points. Martez Brown added 19 points, while Nojel Eastern and Trevor Keels each scored 14 in the loss.
Maine started the game at a blistering pace. Scheierman scored the first six points of the game, on a three-point play followed by a deep three-pointer. Davison proceeded to score the next seven points as Maine jumped out to a big early lead. The Celtics made 14 of their first 16 shots; Tristan Enaruna’s dunk made it 36-21 Celtics. The Wolves would go on a late run, but Maine’s lead was still 38-26 after the 1st quarter.
In the 2nd, Martez Brown heated up for Iowa, scoring seven quick points. The Wolves cut the deficit to three on a Newton three, and then tied the game at 56 on a Jaedon LeDee lay-up. Scheierman and Davison continued to lead the way offensively, and the Celtics led 61-58 at halftime. Maine shot 21-35 (60%) from the floor in the first half, with Davison and Scheierman combining for 35 of Maine’s 61 points.
Iowa would make it a game in the 3rd – Brown made back-to-back buckets to cut it to two, and then a Keels three-pointer gave the Wolves a 67-66 lead. Davison would match Iowa shot for shot, getting to the line repeatedly and scoring six straight points for Maine. The Celtics would take a narrow 79-78 lead after three thanks to an El Ellis dunk at the buzzer.
In the 4th, once again the teams would trade buckets. Jordan Schakel made a lay-up to put the Celtics up three. LeDee and Eastern would proceed to hit back to back buckets, putting Iowa back on top 86-85. With the game tied at 93 with 4:00 to go, Maine then went on a 10-1 run to close out the game – James Banks III dunked home a pass from Davison, then Scheierman, Jay Scrubb, and Watson would make consecutive shots, sealing the game.
Maine finished shooting 50.7% (37-73) from the floor, 38.2% (13-34) from three-point range, and 10-13 from the free throw line. Iowa shot 44.7% (38-85) from the field, 26.7% (8-30) from beyond the arc, and 7-9 from the charity stripe.
The Celtics turn around and play another game tomorrow night, facing Birmingham at the Expo at 7 p.m.
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