Yabusele Leads Red Claws to Victory
January 17, 2018 - NBA G League (G League)
Maine Celtics News Release
Portland, ME - The Maine Red Claws, presented by Unum, went up big then held on for a 111-108 win.
Maine (13-13) entered the game short-handed, after Andrew White signed a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks earlier in the day. The Claws were led by Boston Celtics assignee Guerschon Yabusele with 32 points on 13-26 shooting and 8 rebounds. Trey Davis led the bench with 22 points on 8-14 from the floor. Celtics two-way player Kadeem Allen with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Anthony Bennett added 15 points and 11 rebounds in his 3rd consecutive double-double.
Austin (15-12) was led by Jeff Ledbetter with 30 points on 10-21 shooting off the bench.
Yabusele opened the scoring for Maine with back-to-back three-pointers, one straight on, and one from the corner. The Dancing Bear followed that up with a steal and three-point play the hard way. Yabusele's personal 9-0 run had the Red Claws off to a hot start. Darrun Hillard and the Spurs cut into the lead, getting it to 17-14. Trey Davis continued the hot outside shooting with a pair of threes of his own. Livio Jean-Charles' back-to-back buckets gave Austin the lead at 24-22. The Spurs led 26-24 after 1.
In the 2nd, Yabusele opened the scoring with an emphatic slam. Jeff Ledbetter continued a strong first half by burying a triple and giving Austin a 33-26 lead. Yabusele blocked a shot on one end, then knocked in a trey on the other. The Red Claws regained the lead on a Yabusele driving dunk and an ensuing Yabu lay-up. The Red Claws took a 48-45 lead.Davis capped off an 18 point half with another bucket, and Yabusele made it 20 points with a reverse lay-in. The Red Claws led 54-49 at halftime.
Anthony Bennett started the 3rd quarter with a three-ball, and Allen's steal and lay-in quickly made it a 10 point lead. Austin came back, but Allen's back-to-back lay-ins maintained the lead for Maine. Bennett knocked in another triple to give Maine a 73-65 lead. Yabusele's follow lay-up put Maine up 11, and his monster slam followed by a Josh Adeyeye three-point play had the Red Claws in cruise control. The Red Claws out-scored the Spurs 39-24 in the 3rd, taking a 93-73 lead.
Austin started the 4th quarter on an 11-0 run, cutting the lead to 9. Ledbetter knocked in a three to make it 95-87 Red Claws. The Spurs run extended to 16-2 to start the quarter, making it 95-89. The Spurs cut it to four. Ledbetter hit a deep three and the lead was just 2 at 96-94. Yabusele made Maine's first field goal of the quarter with 4:30 to go to stop the run. Bennett's put back slam righted the ship for the Claws. A 3 point game in the final :28, Jean-Charles made a bucket to cut it to 109-108. Peak made 2 crucial free throws to go up 3 with :07.5 to go.
Maine shot 45.7% (42-92) from the floor, 30.6% (11-36) from downtown, and 16-22 from the free throw line. Austin shot 47.1% (40-85) from the field, 37.9% (11-29) from deep, and 17-19 from the charity stripe.
The Red Claws return to action Thursday and Saturday, both games at the Portland Expo and both games against the Westchester Knicks.
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