Celtics Sweep Charge For 5th Straight Win

PORTLAND, ME – The Maine Celtics collected their fifth-straight victory with the help of Marial Shayok’s eighth 20-point performance in the last nine games, beating the Cleveland Charge, 116-105. 

Marial Shayok led Maine (13-7) with 20 points, four rebounds and six assists, shooting 6-7 from the floor and 3-4 from deep. Luka Šamanić added 19 points and Two-Way big Mfiondu Kabengele put up 18 and five rebounds. Denzel Valentine and Kamar Baldwin each scored 17 points, with Valentine adding six rebounds and four assists. Tony Snell chipped in eight points and five rebounds. Two-Way guard JD Davison had five points and 13 assists. 

Blake Francis led Cleveland (9-8) with 26 points and five assists off the bench in his first appearance with the Charge. Rashad Vaughn tallied 25 points and six rebounds. Nate Hinton posted 19 points and Jamorko Pickett logged 12 points and four rebounds. Sam Merrill turned in 10 points. 

Merrill’s pull-up jumper from the left elbow kicked off the night at the Expo before Šamanić and Baldwin each canned a triple to give the Celtics an early advantage. Maine’s 10-2 lead at the first timeout grew to 20-10 by the four-minute mark as the Celtics’ defense came out of the gates strong for the second night in-a-row. Šamanić had seven points in the opening frame as Maine limited Cleveland to 22.7 percent shooting, holding a 31-19 lead at the first intermission. 

The Celtics held firm with a near-double digit lead as they distributed the scoring well throughout the lineup in the first half. Leading 39-27 with just under seven minutes to go in the second quarter, Maine was still holding the Charge to sub-30 percent shooting. The Celtics steamrolled through the second quarter, with everyone that entered the game logging a point by halftime. Cleveland went on a 12-2 run late in the second to halve their deficit and make it 61-51 after two. 

An intense, physical game out of the locker room saw two instant replay reviews in the opening minutes of the third. The Celtics were up 80-62 by the midway point, running the offense through Shayok while he hunted for his shot. Shayok went 3-3 with a triple for nine points in the quarter, helping the Celtics lengthen the gap a bit heading into the final frame. Davison’s three-quarter court buzzer-beater fell just short at the end of the third, and the Celtics took an 88-75 lead into the fourth. 

The intensity came to a boiling point when Gabe Osabuohien was ejected on his second technical in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter. Maine responded with a back-breaking run to get out to a 15-point lead, 99-84 after Valentine sank a three. Cleveland got within 10 points in crunch time, but Maine responded to their late push, maintained control and took home a 116-105 win. 

The Celtics are off for the All-Star break for the next 13 days before they head out for a five-game road trip, beginning with a back-to-back against the Greensboro Swarm on Feb. 24 and 25.