Maine Celtics sweep Greensboro Swarm

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Maine Celtics pulled away in the second half to beat Greensboro 115-110 on Sunday night. Maine sweeps the two-game series against the Swarm to wrap up their long road trip. 

Maine (20-11) moves back to first place in the Eastern Conference standings after the victory. The Celtics now have more wins than any other team in the NBA G League and have won 14 of its last 16 contests. Sunday also marked the end of a nine-game road trip for Maine in which Maine went 7-2 during that stretch. Maine also defeated Greensboro on Friday 115-104.

JD Davison led Maine with 34 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Fellow Two-Way player Drew Peterson packed the stat sheet again with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.  Hason Ward provided 16 points and 7 rebounds on 8-10 shooting and Tristan Enaruna recorded 15 points and 7 rebounds off the bench for Maine. The Celtics finished Sunday's game shooting 49.4% (42-85) from the floor, including 33.3% (12-36) from three. 

Greensboro (18-3) sits in fourth place after two consecutive losses to Maine. The Swarm were led by 23 points and 4 rebounds by Jaylen Sims and 21 points and 4 rebounds by Keyontae Johnson. Damion Baugh and KJ Simpson each scored 16 for Greensboro. As a team, the Swarm shot 45.2% (42-93) from the floor and 42.4% (14-33) from distance. 

The Celtics and Swarm traded baskets early. Miles Norris knocked in a pair of threes early to give Maine a 10-8 lead. Greensboro made a pair of threes to take a four-point lead before Jordan Schakel’s corner three put the Celtics back up by one. Maine proceeded to go on a 12-0 run, capped off by a Hason Ward lay-up to give Maine a 24-16 advantage. Keyontae Johnson’s bank shot pulled the Swarm within three in the final minute, but Maine took a 32-27 lead after the first quarter. 

In the 2^nd, Isaiah Moore’s three-point play tied the game at 32. Caleb McConnell’s three gave the Swarm a 37-36 lead. Maine's Phillip Wheeler made a bank shot as the Celtics took control of the lead again. Johnson’s three-point play put Greensboro up four. Davison scored five consecutive points to tie the game at 52. Jaylen Sims knocked in a second chance three late in the period, and Greensboro took a 64-62 lead at the break. Davison led all scorers with 22 points at the half. Johnson led Greensboro with 14 points. Both teams shot above 54% from the field in the first half.

The second half opened with both teams trading buckets. DJ Rodman’s driving lay-up tied the game at 66. Davison buried a triple to put Maine up three. Davison started to take over offensively, giving the Celtics a lead. Ward’s alley-oop dunk put Maine up six, and Ward’s tip-in made it an 83-75 Celtics lead. Ward scored eight points in the 3^rd quarter alone, and Davison banked in a three at the buzzer to give Maine an 88-78 lead after 3. Davison scored 10 in the third quarter alone.

In the 4^th, the Celtics forced a turnover and Tristan Enaruna found Drew Peterson for three to put Maine up 94-81 with 10:19 to play. With 5:17 on the clock, Davison found Ward on the lob to increase Maine's lead to 14, their largest of the game. After the Swarm pulled within eight, an Enaruna corner three put the Celtics back up double digits with 3:15 left. Sims scored in transition to pull Greensboro within seven, but Enaruna answered again with a made shot plus the foul for the three-point play. Maine kept Greensboro at bay the rest of the way to earn a 115-110 win and finish their road trip with a 7-2 record. 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: JD Davison was the Player of the Game after leading the Maine Celtics with 34 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Davison was 12-21 (57%) from the field, including 4-8 (50%) from three. 

THE ROAD AHEAD: Maine will return home to the Portland Expo on March 20^th at 7 p.m. against the Osceola Magic in a battle between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.