The Maine Red Claws, presented by Unum, were defeated by the Canton Charge 105-88 on Sunday afternoon. Maine dropped to (23-15) on the season with the loss, while Canton improved to (20-17) with the win.  

Maine found themselves down by seven early on, but went on a quick seven point run to tie the game at 13-13 after a bucket from Jalen Jones. Maine had four turnovers in the first half of the quarter, but after a three-pointer by Nader they went up 20-17 with less than five minutes to play in the opening quarter. 

In the second quarter, Jones broke the tie with a layup right off the bat to give Maine a temporary two-point lead 29-27. 

Canton’s Mike Williams drove to the lane and converted a layup giving Canton a 37-36 lead over Maine, but on the ensuing possession Nader converted an and-one and hit the free throw giving the lead back to Maine 39-37. 

Williams made a layup to end the half and gave Canton a 52-49 halftime lead over Maine. Nader led Maine with 12 points in the 1st half, and Felder had 17 points to lead all scorers.

In the third, Maine struggled out of the gate while Canton scored the first four points leading the Red Claws 56-49. Maine scored the next six to cut the Charge lead down to 56-55 after a pair of dunks from Lauderdale. The Charge went on another scoring run after a three from Jonathan Holmes and a layup from Roosevelt Jones, which gave them their biggest lead of the ball game to that point, 67-57 over Maine. Maine was foul prone in the quarter as Abdel Nader picked up the 5th team foul with 3:42 left in the quarter sending John Holland to the line for two, making both and giving Canton a 74-64 lead over the Red Claws. Holland hit a corner three to give the Charge their new largest lead 77-64 late in the quarter. The quarter ended with the score 77-64 in favor of Canton. Jones led Maine’s scoring through the first three quarters with 17 points. Kay Felder still led all scorers and Canton with 22 points.

In the fourth quarter, Nader opened the quarters scoring with a running layup making the score 77-66 in favor of Canton. Canton opened the quarter on a 7-2 run fueled by a reverse layup by Crawford and a straight away three pointer from Jonathan Holmes which gave them their new largest lead of the game, 84-66. Maine scored 8 quick points on a layup and a pair of three pointer from Georges-Hunt and Arthur Edwards to cut the Canton lead down to 10, 84-74. Halfway through the quarter Maine was down by 11, 88-77. Things did not improve for Maine, who found themselves down by 20 at one point, 100-80 before going on to lose to the Canton Charge 105-88.