Celtics sweep Stars, win fourth straight

PORTLAND, Maine. - For the second straight night, defense led the way for the Maine Celtics as they beat the Salt Lake City Stars 107-102 to earn their fourth straight win at the Expo. 

Maine (5-4) erased a 17-point deficit and is now above .500 for the first time during the regular season after sweeping the Stars. This is the first time this season that an opponent has beaten Salt Lake City (4-3) two times in a row. Maine beat Salt Lake City 102-94 on Thursday. The Stars had previously beaten Maine during the Winter Showcase Tournament were SLC eventually won the tournament championship.

Six Celtics scored in double figures on Friday night. Amari Williams led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on 6-9 shooting. Williams was just one rebound away from recording his fifth consecutive double-double. Hayden Gray packed the stat sheet with 13 points, 10 assists and four steals. Ron Harper Jr. and Kendall Brown each scored 13 and Kameron Warrens scored 11 off the bench. Maine shot 52% (39-75) from the floor and 32.3% (10-31) from beyond the arc. 

Two-Way player John Tonje led the Stars with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Sean East provided 17 points and eight assists, and Justin Harmon scored 16 points for Salt Lake City. After shooting over 52% from the floor at halftime, the Stars finished Friday's game shooting just 43% (37-86) from the floor, including 32.6% (14-43) from distance. 102 points on Friday and 94 points scored by Salt Lake City on Thursday are the two lowest scoring games of the season by the Stars. 

Both teams traded baskets for the first half of the opening quarter, and a layup by Salt Lake City's Justin Harmon gave the Stars a 14-10 lead at the 7:14 mark of the first. Amari Williams collided with a Stars player and left the game with a knee injury in the opening minutes of the game. Maine trailed by seven, but Pedro Bradshaw scored through the contact to cap a 7-0 Celtics run and level the game at 17 with 4:42 remaining in the quarter. With 1:13 to go, Hank Morgan's reverse layup gave the Stars a 32-24 lead. Salt Lake City would lead by as many as 10, as Maine trailed the Stars 34-27 after the first. There were eight lead changes in the first quarter after Thursday's matchup saw just two total lead changes. 

Cameron McGriff drilled a step back three as the Stars began the second quarter on a 9-2 run and claimed a 43-29 lead at the 9:48 mark. After missing the majority of the first quarter, Williams returned to the game with 8:50 to go in the second quarter. Max Klesmit caught fire in the second quarter, and the Stars guard knocked down a three with 7:57 left in the half to extend the Stars lead to 17. Sean East beat the buzzer from 11 feet out, and the Stars took a 64-50 lead into the halftime break. After shooting 6-30 from three on Thursday, the Stars were 8-20 (40%) from three in the first half on Friday. Harmon led the Stars with 13 first half points and John Tonje added 11. Maine shot 52.8% (19-36) from the floor and 46.7% (7-15) from three. Kendall Brown led Maine in the first half with nine points on 4-5 shooting. 

Salt Lake City was in control to start the second half as Tonje extended the Stars lead to 15 with 7:46 left in the third. Maine responded with a 9-0 run and Aaron Scott scored on a transition layup to cut the Stars lead down to six, 71-65 with 6:13 remaining in the quarter. Kameron Warrens found a diving Hason Ward for the two-handed slam as the Celtics tied the game at 76 with 3:02 to go in the third. With 2:10 on the clock, Williams' made free throw capped off a 22-5 run that gave Maine their first lead since the first quarter. Williams had 12 points in the quarter as Maine outscored Salt Lake City 32-15 in the third to claim an 82-79 lead. 

The Two-Way connection was on display when Williams dished it down low to Harper Jr. to deliver a 90-86 lead with 9:09 remaining in the game. Hayden Gray earned his fourth steal of the game and scored on the other end as Maine extended their lead to seven with 7:23 left on the game clock. Tonje scored five straight points for the Stars and a three pulled Salt Lake City within one, 98-97 with 4:14 to play. McGriff scored thirty seconds later to give the Stars a one-point advantage. Maine quickly answered, and Harper stepped into a transition triple to put the Celtics back in front by four with 2:45 remaining in the game. Williams earned a trip to the foul line and made both free throws to give Maine a 105-102 lead with just 45.1 seconds to go. After the Stars came up empty, Williams snagged an offensive rebound off a Warrens missed and made two more field goals with six seconds remaining to secure a 107-102 victory for the Maine Celtics. 

Maine goes 4-1 during their homestand at the Portland Expo and will now play four consecutive games on the road, which begins on January 14 against the Wisconsin Herd.