The Mad Ants beat the Cleveland Charge in Indianapolis and tied a franchise record with 48 defensive rebounds winning 115-96.
Game recap from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants:
Fort Wayne tops Cleveland in matinee game
Indianapolis, Indiana (November 16, 2021) – Noon basketball was on the agenda Tuesday as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants hosted the Cleveland Charge in Indianapolis at the home of the Mad Ants’ parent team, the Indiana Pacers.
Fort Wayne tied a franchise record with 48 defensive rebounds as they came out with the 115-96 win.
Fort Wayne took control early and a Duane Washington Jr. three-pointer at the five-minute mark of the first quarter gave them their first double digit lead of the game, 17-6. Fort Wayne pushed their lead to 17 at 28-11 after a Keifer Sykes steal led to an uncontested fast break dunk for Bennie Boatwright. The Mad Ants led 28-17 after one with Cleveland’s Kyle Guy narrowing the gap with a big late quarter transition three.
The lead wavered between 10-15 points for much of the second quarter as Washinton Jr. continued to find success both from long range and in transition. Norvel Pelle cut the Charge deficit to 50-26 on a fast break dunk with 3:40 left in the half before Washington Jr. answered back at the rim. The Mad Ants extended their lead past 20 late in the quarter and held a 65-36 advantage at the half.
Fort Wayne expanded their lead to as big as 46 during the third quarter behind Terry Taylor’s seven points and Keifer Sykes’ six.
Canton made a run in the fourth with their best quarter of the day. The Charge posted 36 points in the fourth with 10 from Malik Newman and eight out of Kyle Guy. Guy led Cleveland with 23 points and seven rebounds while Newman added 18 points.
Fort Wayne was led by Washington Jr.’s 24 points with 20 of those coming in the first half. Justin Anderson and Sykes each added 20 points and NBA G League rebound leader Terry Taylor added another double double with 19 points and 15 rebounds. It was Will Vorhees who secured the record tying 48th defensive rebound in the closing moments of the game off a missed free throw from Guy.
The teams will play each other again on Wednesday, also with a noon tip.
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