A sold-out crowd at the Portland Expo watched a record-setting performance Friday night as the Maine Red Claws cruised past the Grand Rapids Drive 132-107 for their sixth straight victory.
In front of 2,717 fans, the Red Claws (27-15) knocked down 24 3-pointers, passing the franchise record of 22 done twice last season.
Omari Johnson, who had 22 points, led the way with six 3-pointers and Levi Randolph added five as part of his team-high 25 points.
“It’s just repetition,” said Randolph. “We’ve been shooting the ball well all season. People might take it as a surprise but as a team we work on it every day, and we trust each other and try to find the open man. Honestly, it felt natural. We’re a team that shoots 3s. If we can’t get to the rim we try to find an open man, so this just felt like another game for us.”
Eight Red Claws made 3-pointers. Maine hit 24 of 51 3-pointers and avenged two earlier losses to the Drive (18-23).
The number of attempts also was a franchise record.
Corey Walden scored 22 points, Marcus Thornton had 20, Malcolm Miller 16, and Tim Frazier and James Young 10 apiece.
“It’s a good sign for us when we have a lot of guys in double figures,” said Coach Scott Morrison.
“We tend to have a different guy lead us in scoring most nights. It opens up the floor for us and kind of makes other teams pick their poison. It doesn’t always happen that way but tonight we were shooting well.”
Seven Red Claws scored in the first quarter, led by nine from Randolph in a 31-31 tie. Frazier and Walden each added five for Maine.
Kelsey Barlow and Henry Sims (18 points) paced Grand Rapids with eight points each.
Maine’s offense continued sharp in the second quarter, sparked by 3-point shooting. Six players connected on the 3s in the quarter as the Red Claws went 8 of 13.
Maine finished the first half 13 of 26 on 3-pointers.
Randolph and Omari Johnson led the way, with each connecting on a pair of 3-pointers and scoring eight points in the quarter as the Red Claws took a 66-54 lead into halftime.
At the break, Maine had three players in double figures: Randolph had 17 points, Johnson 11 and Walden 10 Sims scored 10 points for Grand Rapids.
Maine was 7 of 13 on 3-pointers in the third quarter and took a 101-74 lead into the fourth.
By the end of the third, seven Red Claws were in double figures, led by 23 from Randolph. Walden was up to 16 and Frazier had already reached a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.
The 3-point shooting slowed early in the fourth, but the Red Claws were able to tie the franchise mark on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 3:53 left.
Andre Stringer connected on the record-setting 3-pointer with 2:48 remaining, and Thornton knocked down another to finish it.
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