The Mane Red Claws had a lousy start in a Thursday night loss to Delaware.
They made up for it Saturday night, setting a Portland Expo scoring record in the opening quarter, then rallying in the final minute of both regulation and overtime for a 131-125 D-League victory over the 87ers before a crowd of 2,551.
“The guys played a lot tougher,” Maine Coach Scott Morrison said. “I think their pride was hurt in the first game.”
Russ Smith of Delaware banked in a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and cap a 20-point rally in the fourth quarter.
A Ryan Kelly lay-in and two free throws by Demetrius Jackson gave the Claws (20-12) a 126-122 lead with 33 seconds left in overtime, but Devondrick Walker drained another long 3-pointer for Delaware (16-14) to cut the margin to one with 28 seconds remaining.
With the shot clock ticking down, Marcus Georges-Hunt drove into the paint, faked a shot, hesitated, then kicked the ball to Jalen Jones on the left wing. Jones sank a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining to push the margin back to four.
“We were down on ourselves a little bit because we blew a big lead,” said Jones, who finished with 21 points. “Coach said ‘Hey, you’ve got to forget about what we did the rest of the quarters. Be locked in for overtime.’ We pulled out a tough one.”
Jones also stole the ensuing inbounds pass to prevent Delaware from taking another shot. Jackson added two free throws to complete the scoring.
Jordan Mickey, on assignment from the Boston Celtics, joined the Claws on Saturday. He had 27 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with a little less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
Abdel Nader had 25 points and nine assists, and Kelly totaled 23 points and nine rebounds for the Claws, who trailed 117-116 with two minutes left in regulation after taking a 98-78 lead into the fourth quarter.
“It wasn’t great that we blew our lead but it was nice that the guys didn’t pack it in,” Morrison said, “and when that overtime started they were locked in again and were able to win that three-minute game.”
The 87ers never trailed in Thursday’s 109-90 victory at the Expo. On Saturday, they took an 18-17 advantage midway through the first quarter.
Maine scored the next 19 points, on the strength of Jones near the basket and Kelly from deep.
The Claws led 71-46 late in the first half and by 23 early in the fourth.
That’s when Delaware shot the lights out.
“I thought we really needed to get this win, for team spirit, or whatever terminology you want to use for that,” said Morrison.
Former Red Claw Ella Ellis, now a lieutenant in the Army, was Maine’s guest on Military Appreciation Night and spoke with the team beforehand.
“It was nice having Ella Ellis back to give them a little pep talk before the game,” Morrison said.”
Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or
Gjordan@pressherald.com
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
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