Celtics Take Down Vipers In Expo Rout

Celtics take down vipers in expo rout

Samanic Leads Maine with 28-18 Stat Line

PORTLAND, ME – The Maine Celtics made an emphatic return to the Expo, cruising past the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and collecting a 118-98 victory. 

Luka Šamanić led Maine (2-0) with 28 points and 18 rebounds in 26 minutes played. Marial Shayok put up 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Two-Way player Mfiondu Kabengele added 14 points, 13 rebounds and three assists, with fellow Two-Way player JD Davison notching four points and seven assists. Denzel Valentine flirted with a triple-double yet again, posting 12 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Trey Davis scored 12 points off the bench and Scottie Lindsey had 10. Kamar Baldwin logged nine points, five rebounds and four steals. 

Two-Way player Darius Days led Rio Grande Valley (1-1) with 21 points and 12 boards. Two-Way player Trevor Hudgins recorded 19 points and four assists. Jalen Lecque registered 17 points and five rebounds. Ray Spalding had 11 points and eight rebounds. 

Hudgins opened the scoring with a teardrop floater and Kabengele got the Celtics off and running with a putback dunk, fully making up for the lob he mishandled on the first possession. Valentine got himself going with a couple of early triples, the second giving Maine a 10-9 lead. The game was tied, 12-12 at the first timeout, as both sides began to pick up the pace and physicality. Lindsey’s soaring putback gave the Celtics the lead back after RGV got ahead briefly, and the Celtics held on through the end of the first, when they led 29-22. 

Reggie Kissoonlal checked in, nailed a hook shot and made his presence felt on the glass early in the second, and again the intensity and physicality turned up a notch as Maine started to take control. Davis sank a three to make it a 10-point game, 34-24 and he’d hit another to stretch the lead to 15 points, 42-27. Davison’s fading 11-foot pull-up out of a spin move broke the Vipers’ 1-2-2 zone defense after they switched from man-to-man to muck up the Celtics offense. Šamanić flipped one over his shoulder and into the basket in the closing minutes to give himself his 14^th double-double of the season before the first half had even finished. Maine led, 61-39 at the break. 

The Celtics kept their foot on the gas pedal in the third quarter, with Kabengele starting it off by dunking just about every time he touched the ball. Lecque answered back with a poster dunk of his own, though the Vipers couldn’t capitalize on the momentum. Kabengele and Šamanić were both up to a double-double by the midpoint of the third, and the Celtics were dominating the glass with a plus-21 rebounding margin. After three, Maine led, 91-68 with the help of 50 points in the paint. 

In a last-ditch effort to flip the script, the Vipers started pressing full court to get the Celtics out of rhythm, though it was not to much avail. Kabengele hit a clean Euro-step layup and smiled back to the bench as Maine coasted through the fourth quarter, nearing the franchise record of 71 total team rebounds in a game. Ultimately, they fell just one rebound short in a comfortable victory over the Vipers, 118-98. 

The Maine Celtics and Rio Grande Valley Vipers will complete a back-to-back with a New Year’s Eve matinee at 3:00 PM tomorrow. Maine hosts the Motor City Cruise for a back-to-back next week.