J The Maine Red Claws, presented by Unum, erased a 26-point deficit, defeating the Memphis Hustle, 99-98 Saturday night in a wild finish. Maine, (9-19)) was led by R.J. Hunter with 24 points and 6 rebounds. Archie Goodwin scored 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, including huge free throws down the stretch to complete the comeback and seal victory. Boston Celtics assignee Robert Williams recorded a double-double with 16 points on 8-8 shooting and 12 rebounds. Memphis (17-14) was led by Tyler Harvey with 22 points. Andrew White started the scoring for Maine with a long two in the opening minute. P.J. Dozier followed that up with a driving lay-up to tie the game at 6. Hunter set up Williams with an alley-oop slam, and Goodwin followed that up with a trey - putting Maine up 2. Memphis Two-Way Player Yuta Watanabe scored late in the quarter, and Marcus Keane dropped in a three at the buzzer, giving the Hustle a 25-20 lead after 1. Maine shot just 32% (8-25) from the field in the 1st. The Red Claws started fast and furious in the 2nd, with Hunter scoring a driving dunk off of a steal. Markel Crawford buried a long two to beat the shot clock and put Memphis up 7. Tyler Harvey converted a rare 4-point play to extend to 34-25 Hustle. Maine clawed back. Vitto Brown's corner three cut it to 4. Memphis knocked in back-to-back three's to extend to 44-34. The Red Claws struggled to score from the outside, making just 1 of 12 from beyond the arc in the quarter. Memphis led by as many as 17, and took a 58-41 lead into the break. Maine shot just 30.6% (15-49) from the floor, and 13.6% (3-22) from downtown. Memphis, meanwhile, shot 52.5% (21-40) from the field, and 63.6% (7-11) from beyond the arc. Hunter opened the second half by knocking in a three and ending the drought. The Hustle, however, continued to pour it on. Watanabe's three made it 69-47. The lead would balloon to 26 points. Maine would score 5 quick points, but Dusty Hannahs stopped the run with a floating shot. The Red Claws got back in the game from the free throw line, making 11 free throws in the quarter and cutting the deficit to 13. Still, at the end of 3, Maine trailed 84-69. In the 4th, White knocked in a three. Bibbs followed that up with a three, cutting it to 11. Harvey dropped in a three to stop the run. Maine then went on an 11-0 run, with Williams dropping in a long two and Goodwin leading the charge. Williams dunk made it 91-86 with 4:52 to go. Bibbs got it to 3 with a lay-up. Hunter's three-point play tied the game at 91 and made it a 16-0 run. Maine took its first lead since the 1st quarter with a Goodwin free throw with :50.1 left, making it 97-96 Red Claws. With the lead, Williams fouled Harvey with :02.9 left on the clock. Harvey made them both, giving Memphis a 98-97 lead. Goodwin was fouled with :00.9 left, and made them both to put Maine up 99-98. On the final play, the Red Claws kept the Hustle from getting a shot off, sealing victory. Maine out-scored Memphis 30-14 in the 4th quarter. The Red Claws shot 35.2% (31-88) from the field, and 21.1% (8-38) from downtown, while going 29-37 from the free throw line. Memphis shot 42% (34-81) from the floor, 38.5% (10-26) from beyond the arc, and 20-25 from the charity stripe. Maine returns to action Wednesday at Canton. The Red Claws are back at home for two games next weekend, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1 & 2. Tickets are on sale now by calling 207-210-6655 or visiting MaineRedClaws.com. News Release
