Maine moves into first place with 115-104 win over Swarm

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Maine Celtics (19-11) held off a fourth quarter rally by the Greensboro Swarm (18-2) to win 115-104 on Friday night. After Maine lead by as many as 34, Greensboro outscored Maine 30-13 in the fourth quarter to give the Celtics a scare. 

Friday's game had key implications for the Eastern Conference standings, with both teams entering the night with an 18-11 record, tied for second place. The Swarm were playing their second game in as many nights and would never hold a lead over the Celtics on Friday. 

With the win, Maine has now won 13 of its last 15 games. That ties the franchise record for the best record in a 15-game stretch, dating back to the 2015-16 season. The win also vaulted Maine up to first place in the Eastern Conference standings for the first time this season after Capital City lost to Motor City on Friday. The Celtics also improved to 6-2 during their current nine-game road trip.

JD Davison led the Celtics with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 assists. Drew Peterson and Jordan Schakel each buried four three-pointers in the game. Peterson finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists while Schackel added 16 points and 6 rebounds off the bench for Maine. In his first start with the Celtics, recently signed Two-Way player Miles Norris recorded 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Maine shot 46% (41-89) from the floor and 38.5% (15-39) from three. 

Jaylen Sims led Greensboro with 23 points on 7-13 shooting. KJ Simpson added 18 points and five rebounds. The Swarm finished the night shooting 39% (38-97) from the floor and 35.% (11-31) from three. Maine outrebounded Greensboro 55-44 in the game. 

The Celtics held Greensboro scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and a dunk by Davison put Maine up 6-0 early. With 2:30 to play in the quarter, Jordan Schakel buried a triple to give Maine a 26-16 lead over the Swarm. Schakel led Maine with eight first quarter points. The Celtics would lead by as many as 13 in the first quarter, but a buzzer-beating long two by Jaylen Sims pulled the Swarm back within 11, 34-23 at the end of the first quarter. 

Phillip Wheeler kicked off the second quarter in style with a long three off the glass to beat the shot clock buzzer and grow Maine's lead to 14. With 9:34 to go in the quarter, Drew Peterson found Jay Scrubb for a tough basket around the cup as he was fouled to put Maine up by 16. With just 56 seconds remaining in the second, Wheeler scored around the basket to put the Celtics up 18. Just 13 seconds later, Davison found Peterson in transition and the catch and shoot three was good as Maine carried their largest lead of the game to that point into halftime, 66-45. Davison and Peterson each scored 12 first half points as the Celtics shot 48% from the floor. 

Davison continued to light up the Swarm early in the second half. The Two-Way guard pulled up for three and got it to go to grow Maine's lead up to 24 with 8:32 remaining in the third. With six minutes to go, Davison found Miles Norris on back-to-back three-pointers to balloon the Celtics lead to 29. Maine's red-hot third quarter continued, with Davison dishing to Scrubb for another triple to make it 95-62 with under four minutes left in the quarter. Peterson drained a three with 31.0 seconds left in the third to put Maine over the century mark as the Celtics connected on 64% ( 7-11) shots from beyond the arc in the quarter. For the second time in the game, Sims beat the end of quarter buzzer, but Maine carried a commanding 102-74 lead to start the fourth. 

After ending the third quarter on a 5-0 run, Greensboro scored five consecutive points to start the fourth and cut the Celtics lead down to 23 with 8:59 remaining in the game. A steal and slam by the Swarm with 5:50 to play cut the deficit down to 17, as Maine still hadn't managed to score in the fourth quarter. Maine called timeout, and Davison connected with Norris again from deep to stop the scoring drought. Greensboro cut the lead down to eight, but a jump shot by Peterson with 1:05 left in the game gave Maine a 109-99 lead to hold off the Swarm for the victory. 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: JD Davison was the Player of the Game after nearly recording a triple-double with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 assists. 

THE ROAD AHEAD: Maine will face the Greensboro Swarm again on Sunday at 4 p.m. The game will broadcast live on NBAGLeague.com.