Mad Ants Swarm Skyforce In Thursday Night Battle

This report was prepared by the Media Relations staff of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

FORT WAYNE, IN (February 13, 2014) The Fort Wayne Mad Ants defeated the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Thursday evening at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, 89-83. For the fourth game in a row, Tony Mitchell led the Mad Ants in scoring off of the bench with 27 points.

A slow first quarter for the Mad Ants resulted in a first half that was dominated by Sioux Falls who took a 46-35 lead heading into intermission. Justin Hamilton scored 13 of his 17 points during the first half for the Skyforce.

The Mad Ants battled back after halftime and outscored the Skyforce 25-16 in the third quarter thanks to Tony Mitchell who netted 11 points in the period. Fort Wayne converted eight Sioux Falls turnovers into 12 points during the third quarter and were able to pull within two-points of the Skyforce heading into the final period.

The fourth quarter saw two Skyforce players ejected from the game, DeAndre Liggins for his second technical foul with 1:21 to play, and Tre Kelley for a flagrant-two foul just nine seconds later. The Mad Ants were able to outscore the Skyforce by eight points in the quarter and pulled out an 89-83 victory, improving to 19-13 on the season.

Sioux falls had three players in double digits and were led by Justin Hamilton's 17 points and 12 rebounds. Larry Drew scored 16 points and Henry Walker contributed 14 points for Sioux Falls.

For the Mad Ants, Mitchell scored 27 points, Ron Howard netted 20 points and Brian Butch chipped in 10 points. Sadiel Rojas had a huge game for the Ants scoring 15 points and pulling down 15 rebounds in the victory.

Next up for Sioux Falls is a Tuesday night road contest at Tulsa while Fort Wayne travels to Springfield on Monday.