Noblesville slips past Celtics 123-122

PORTLAND, Maine - The Noblesville Boom erased a 19-point deficit in the second half to stun the Maine Celtics 123-122 on Wednesday at the Portland Expo. Kyle Guy led the Boom with a season-high 39 points and 14 assists.

Au'Diese Toney scored the game-winning basket with 13.4 seconds left to give the Boom their second consecutive victory and hand a sellout crowd at the Portland Expo a heartbreaking loss on New Years Eve.

The Maine Celtics never trailed through the first three quarters of the game, but the Boom outscored the Celtics 69-49 in the second half to steal the win and hand Maine just their second home loss of the season. Maine falls to 1-4 and Noblesville improves to 3-2 in the Regular Season. Maine has lost three straight and six of their last seven.

Ron Harper Jr. led Maine with 36 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Harper shot 13-22 from the floor, including a season-high 10-16 from three. Amari Williams recorded his second triple-double of the season, notching 12 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Max Shulga recorded a double-double with 21 points and 14 assists. Stefan Todorovic provided as season-high 22 points off the bench for Maine on 8-10 shooting. Maine shot 53.5% (46-86) from the floor and 40.5% (15-37) from three. Maine dished out 34 assists on 46 total made field goals and outrebounded the Boom 44-37.

In addition to Guy's game-high 39 points, M.J. Iraldi provided 24 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Boom. Cameron Hildreth scored 18 points to go with seven boards and Au'Diese Toney had 18 points and seven rebounds. Despite a slow shooting start, Noblesville finished the game shooting 52.3% (46-88) from the floor and 46.2% (12-26) from beyond the arc. The Boom capitalized on 22 Maine turnovers for 28 points.

Maine led Noblesville 73-54 at the break, with the 19-point advantage being their largest lead of the game. Harper had 23 points and Shulga scored 17 at the break to pace Maine, who was shooting 61.7% from the floor through two quarters. The Boom were struggling to find their shot, sitting at 48% at halftime despite 17 first half points by Guy.

In the second half, Noblesville flipped the script. The Boom leaned on their defense as they began to claw their way back. With 6:24 left in the game, a made three by Gabe McGlothan gave the Boom their first lead of the game, 107-105. The Boom extended their lead to as many as seven, leading Maine 121-114 with 1:08 left on the clock. Maine would answer with a 6-0 run, forcing three consecutive turnovers against Noblesville. Harper scored with 25.2 seconds remaining to deliver a one-point lead for the Celtics, but a bucket on the other end by Toney and two misses by Maine in the final seconds of the game delivered a comeback win for Noblesville.

Maine will meet the Boom again on Friday at 7 p.m. The Celtics are back in action the next day against Capital City at 7 p.m. on Saturday.