Maine Falters in Final Minute Against Mad Ants

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - A chance to steal a win on the road slipped through the Celtics' grasp as Maine lost to the Indiana Mad Ants 118-115 on Tuesday afternoon.

After Maine outscored Indiana 42-28 in the third quarter, the Mad Ants erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth to stun the Celtics in the final minute. Maine falls to 4-3 after the road loss. Indiana (4-2) shot a blistering 57.5% from the floor as a team, led by 27 points from Enrique Freeman. Quenton Jackson and RayJ Dennis each added 23 points for the Mad Ants in the win.

JD Davison led Maine with 27 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds. Drew Peterson connected on 5-10 shots from deep to add 23 points for the Celtics. Five Maine players scored 15 points or more in the losing effort. Baylor Scheierman finished with 18 points and four rebounds, marking the first time in five games that Scheierman has been held under 20 points.

Indiana jumped out to an early lead as the Mad Ants shot over 50% from the floor to lead the Celtics 13-4. After the first media timeout, Maine answered with a 12-2 run to claim their first lead of the game, 16-15 at the 3:52 mark in the first quarter. Led by 10 first-quarter points by Two-Way Player Enrique Freeman, the Mad Ants ended the first quarter on a 12-3 run to lead Maine 25-19 at the end of one.

The Mad Ants extend their lead to 10 at the start of the quarter as Maine's shooting woes continued. The Celtics shot just 4-22 (18.2%) from beyond the arc in the first half and 40.5% from the field. Meanwhile, seemingly everything was falling in for the G League's top scoring team so far in the regular season. Freeman was 9-11 from the field with 20 first-half points. Jahlil Okafor was perfect from the field with 11 points and RayJ Dennis added 10 as the Mad Ants made 62.5% of their shots. A jump shot by by Dennis with 5.4 seconds gave Indiana their largest lead of the game, 61-48 at halftime. Davison led Maine with 15 points, five assists, and four rebounds at the break.

Despite the Celtics first half shooting woes, a gritty Maine team would not go away in the second half. Three steals by the Celtics early in the second half pull Maine within five of the Mad Ants as Davison and Peterson combined for 15 of Maine's first 20 points. A Jay Scrubb three-pointer pulled Maine within one, 79-78 with under four minutes to play in the third. Scrubb led Maine's bench with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals. A Davison free throw helped Maine claim their first lead since the first quarter a minute later as a battle in Indianapolis continued to brew. The Celtics shot a blistering 70.6% from the floor, including 8-11 from three (72.7%) as Maine led 90-89 at the end of the third.

Maine continued to show their defensive prowess to start the fourth quarter. Celtics recorded two two quick steals and forced a Mad Ants timeout after leaping to a 99-94 lead early in the quarter. Maine continued to turn up the pressure on the Mad Ants as Anton Watson buried a three-pointer with 6:35 to play to help Maine extend their lead to 10 points. Indiana would pull back within three of the Celtics, setting up a nail-biting finish with under two minutes to go. With 1:18 on the clock, Freeman snagged an offensive rebound and scored as he was fouled to level the game at 112. Indiana then scored five consecutive points, all part of a 21-6 run to take a commanding 117-112 lead with 13 seconds remaining. Scheierman quickly scored on the ensuing possession, finishing through the contact on what was later determined to be a flagrant foul. Scheierman connected on the free throw and Maine kept possession of the ball down two with 10.7 seconds remaining. The Celtics first round pick would get a good look from three in the final moments, but it was off the mark as Maine fell short, 118-115 in Indianapolis.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: JD Davison was the Player of the Game after leading Maine with 27 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds.

INJURY REPORT: Dmytro Skapintsev (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Donald Carey Jr. (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Eric Gaines (OUT) - Injury/Illness, Jordan Schakel (OUT) - Injury/Illness

THE ROAD AHEAD: Maine returns home for two games against Raptors 905 this weekend at the Portland Expo. The Celtics will face 905 first on Friday at 7 p.m. and against on Saturday at 7 p.m. Both games will broadcast live on NBAGLeague.com.