Maine Celtics Roll To Big Win At Expo

PORTLAND, ME – The Maine Celtics bounced back from a four-game losing streak with a win over the College Park Skyhawks, 132-108 behind a clutch performance from Denzel Valentine in his second game back from injury. 

Marial Shayok led Maine (9-7) in scoring with 24 points on 9-12 from the floor, adding five assists. Valentine finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Two-Way big Mfiondu Kabengele put up 17 points, five rebounds and four blocks while Two-Way guard JD Davison posted 13 points and nine assists. Luka Šamanić tallied 16 points and eight rebounds. Kamar Baldwin and Scottie Lindsey logged 11 points apiece. Marvin Smith Jr. contributed 13 and six rebounds. Tony Snell had eight points. 

Tyson Etienne and Langston Galloway led College Park (7-8) with 18 points each. Malik Ellison chipped in 16 and five rebounds and Two-Way wing Donovan Williams had 13 points. Armoni Brooks registered 12 points and Brandon Williams added 10 and five assists. 

Valentine threw a post entry pass to Šamanić on the left block, and he backed down Martin and dropped one in for the first points of the night. Valentine’s triple gave Maine a 7-5 lead in the opening minutes, spurring the Celtics to a 10-0 run that opened a double-digit lead. Kabengele collected a three, dunk and contact layup over the course of his first six minutes, tallying nine points in the opening frame. After one, the Celtics led 37-24, flipping the script after a sluggish start in last evening’s game. 

Šamanić scored the first eight points of the second quarter, propelling the Celtics to a big lead that rarely faded throughout the night. Maine knocked down open looks at a higher clip than the night before, hustled and defended well to limit College Park. The Celtics led 57-43 with 4:32 left in the second, with Kabengele, Šamanić, Shayok and Valentine all notching 12 or more points in the first half. At the break, the Celtics led 74-58 after shot 67 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep across the first 24 minutes. 

Shayok and Valentine turned the heat up early in the third, combining for six three-pointers made by the eight-and-a-half minute mark of the quarter. At that point, the Celtics had pushed the lead beyond 20 points, 85-65, giving them insurance to coast through the rest of the evening. After three, Maine led 105-81. 

Maine kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter, maintaining a lead of 20-plus points for the entire frame. Davison took a hard charge, Valentine dropped a no-look, overhead dime to Snell waiting in the corner, and the Expo crowd ignited as the Celtics steadily put the game out of reach. As the minutes waned, the Celtics reserves kept the pressure on, leading Maine to a 132-108 victory to snap a four-game skid. 

The Celtics will head out on the road for a two-game series with Raptors 905 on Feb. 6 and 8 before returning home for a back-to-back with the Cleveland Charge on Feb. 10 and 11.