Mad Ants Crawl Their Way to a Comeback Victory at Showcase
January 6, 2014 - NBA G League (G League) News Release
RENO, NEV., Jan. 6, 2014 - The Fort Wayne Mad Ants outscored the Santa Cruz Warriors 57-39 in the second half to erase a 22-point deficit and defeat Santa Cruz 101-97 in day two of the NBA D-League Showcase presented by Samsung Galaxy.
Ron Howard led the way for the Mad Ants with 28 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Howard had great success from the charity stripe and nailed 16-of-19 free throw attempts for the game. His 11 points in the third quarter sparked an 11-0 run to help Fort Wayne overcome the deficit and tie the game at 61 midway through the third quarter.
The game remained tight into the fourth quarter and with 2:49 remaining; Fort Wayne would take their first lead of the game on a running jump shot by Jamaal Franklin. Franklin, a 6-5, 191 pound guard, was selected in the 2013 NBA Draft with the 41st overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies and was on assignment making his NBA D-League debut. Franklin finished with 15 points and four steals.
Both teams traded free-throws in the final minute before Peyton Siva was fouled driving to the basket with 3.9 seconds remaining and nailed two free throws to put the Mad Ants in the lead for good.
Trey McKinney Jones scored 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting and Sadiel Rojas grabbed eight rebounds to help the Fort Wayne come back.
Santa Cruz got off to a fast start, outscoring the Mad Ants 34-18 in the first-quarter and took a 58-44 lead into the locker room. They were led by Cameron Jones who scored 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Kiwi Gardner came off the bench and registered 20 points for the Warriors.
Santa Cruz will have two days off before returning to the floor on Thursday versus the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at 12:40 P.M. and Fort Wayne will return to action Wednesday to take on The Tulsa 66ers at 3:30 P.M.
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