The Fort Wayne Mad Ants (9-2) moved past the Delaware 87ers (5-6) after a 10-point first half deficit.
Delaware’s Dionte Christmas set the pace in the first quarter shooting lights out, 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the three-point range.
Mad Ants Georges Niang knocked down the first two points with in the after a Stephan Hicks steal in the first possession of play.
Nick Zeisloft entered the game with 2:39 left in the quarter and drained a three to bright the score to 24-29.
The 87ers then went on to make two more shots, including a buzzer beater three-ball by Christmas to secure the 87ers 10-point lead at the end of the quarter (34-24)
Fort Wayne held on by the low ball (14-26) and points at the line (8-11) in the second quarter. With under two minutes left in the half, a jump ball and forced turnover by the Mad Ants led to Alex Poythress steal and Julyan Stone layup slicing the lead to eight.
Mad Ants went on to lock in a set of free throws and a steal by Stone who dished to Travis Leslie for the first dunk of the night, kept Fort Wayne within four at the half (67-63).
Fort Wayne regained their confidence following the halftime break going on a 9-2 run. Hicks led the third quarter with a three to bring the 87ers lead down to one point.
Followed by a Trey McKinney-Jones layup to regain the lead (68-67) for the first time since 7:23 in the first quarter and the 87ers never regained the lead. Hicks locked down another two-point basket to bring the Mad Ants up by four.
Lorrenzo Wade Jr. and David Laury each logged seven points to bring the 87ers within 10 to close out the third (97-87).
Mad Ants continued to rattle the rim as McKinney Jones slammed his second dunk of the second half to begin the fourth quarter. Back to back three-point baskets by Zeisloft (107-92) forced an 87ers timeout with eight minutes left in regulation.
Delaware would not go down without a fight, the 87ers broke the lead from double digits to five points with just over four minutes left in the game.
A Mad Ants ball tipped out of bounds followed by a trey-ball by Brannen Greene cut the lead to two. Fort Wayne then went on 7-2 run to seal the victory 120-109 over the 87ers.
Delaware had six players score double digits including; Christmas-19 points, Wade-17 points, Sheldon McClellan-17 points, Laury-16 points, Shawn Long-14 points, and James Web III-11 points.
Leslie recorded a double-double for Fort Wayne scoring 17 points off the bench and 12 rebounds. Mad Ants had six other players who scored in double-digits, Poythress and McKinney-Jones logged 23 each. Niang and Zeisloft each put down 13 points. Stone had 12 points and Jordan Loyd tacked on 11 points.
The Mad Ants will play again on Friday at home against the Long Island Nets. The game on December 16th, will tipoff at 7 p.m.
