Schakel, Steward Lead Maine To 4th Straight Win

GREENSBORO, NC – The Maine Celtics trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and held the Greensboro Swarm to 1-13 shooting from deep in the second half to claim a fourth-straight victory, 111-108. 

Jordan Schakel led Maine (4-2) with 23 points and six rebounds, shooting 6-11 from beyond the arc. DJ Steward scored 23 points to go with six rebounds and seven assists. Two-Way guard JD Davison followed up a career-high scoring effort with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Boston assignee Jordan Walsh added 14 points, six rebounds, a block, and a steal. Two-Way forward Nathan Knight posted 10 points and 10 boards for the double-double and Two-Way center Neemias Queta put up 11 and eight rebounds. 

Two-Way guard Amari Bailey posted 22 points and six rebounds for Greensboro (2-5). R.J. Hunter turned in 22 points, four assists and two steals while Trevon Scott had 17 and six rebounds. Two-Way guard Leaky Black logged 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Nathan Mensah and Jaylen Sims both scored 11 points. 

Walsh’s drop-off pass set up Knight for an easy dunk to open the scoring, and Hunter side-stepped the contest and drained a three for Greensboro’s first bucket. A triple from Brown Jr. gave the Swarm an early lead as Greensboro hit five of its first six threes while the Celtics started 0-6 from deep. The Swarm got out to an early lead before Funk and Steward each hit a three to end Maine’s cold start; a 7-4 run capped off by a transition three from Slater brought the Celtics within three, 28-25, but a 5-0 solo run from Black widened the gap again. Queta’s 1-for-2 with 15.9 seconds left made it 33-27 in favor of the Swarm through 12 the first quarter. 

The Celtics scored four-straight to pull within two as the second quarter began, but Greensboro fired back with a 5-0 run to make it 38-31. Maine called a timeout to quell the run, but it built to 12-2 before Steward ended it with his second three of the day and then found a cutting Snell for an easy layup to get Maine’s deficit back into single digits. First-half turnovers killed the Celtics, racking up 11 before the break that led to 14 fast break points for Greensboro. Maine’s shooting was cold out of the gates but rebounded late in the quarter as Schakel and Walsh each sank a pair of timely threes as a 12-7 run shrank a double-digit deficit down to six points, 61-55 heading into the locker room. 

Knight opened the second half with a bucket inside and Schakel caned a three to get Maine off and running. Davison’s first triple of the night cut the deficit to 71-69; in the first half and early in the third quarter, Maine made enough plays to hang tight but couldn’t quite break through. Davison struggled to get going, scoring just six points through 30 minutes of play coming off a career-high scoring performance. Steward and Schakel picked up the slack, though, hitting timely threes to put Maine back in front for the first time since it was 4-3. The Swarm evened it back up soon after, and Davison’s mid-paint turnaround missed in the closing seconds to make it 86-86 after three. 

The Swarm regained the lead and held a one-possession advantage early in the final frame. Shaping up for an ending just as close as the last game, the lead was traded back and forth down the stretch as the pace and scoring grinded to a halt. Maine had fully recovered from a cold shooting start, but 17 total turnovers repeatedly handed Greensboro easy points to keep them in front. With three minutes remaining, the Celtics retook the lead, 103-101 and forced the Swarm into a timeout.  

Mensah tipped in a miss to give the Swarm the lead back in the final minute, but Davison stepped up big time when his team needed him, sinking a free throw line pull-up to give Maine a one-point lead with 32.9 seconds left. Bailey’s running lefty layup off the glass put Greensboro back on top by one. Davison recovered a loose ball on Maine’s ensuing possession, kicked it out to the right wing and Schakel came through with a clutch go-ahead three with 10.7 left to make it 110-108. The Swarm couldn’t muster up an equalizer and Steward’s free throw iced it, giving Maine its fourth-straight win in dramatic fashion. 

The Celtics will return to Portland to rejuvenate for a few days before heading out on a three-game road trip that begins with a matchup against the Westchester Knicks on Nov. 29 in White Plains, N.Y.