# Fort Wayne Mad Ants upset Los Angeles D-Fenders



## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants used a strong fourth quarter performance to end a 3 game losing streak and defeat the Los Angeles D-Fenders in a nail bitter, 97-95, at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum this afternoon. 
The Los Angeles D-Fenders controlled the first three quarters of play, leading by as many as 14 points, but the Ants would not give up. The Mad Ants went on an 11-2 run to open up the fourth quarter to bring them within 2 points. The drive was piloted by Eric Smith, who scored 6 of his 16 points in the final quarter. The last four minutes of the game saw 4 ties and 3 lead changes as the score was even at 93 with 22 seconds remaining. The Mad Ants held the ball, ran down the clock and capped the game off with a 22 foot jumper from Walker Russell Jr. with only .5 seconds left to the give the Ants the victory.

The Los Angeles D-Fenders had 5 players in double digits, led by Wendell White. White led all scorers with 23 points. Also putting up big numbers for the D-Fenders were Devin Green and Sean Banks, who both pulled down 8 rebounds apiece and scored 17 and 16 points respectively.

Coming off of a 23 point performance, Ron Howard led the way for the Mad Ants, scoring 21 points while shooting 67% from the floor. Smith also shot well from the floor, shooting 70% and grabbing 6 rebounds. Point guards Russell Jr. and Earl Calloway chipped in 16 points apiece.

With the Victory, the Mad Ants ended the D-Fenders' six-game winning streak, which included a win over the Mad Ants less than a week ago in the NBA D-League Showcase. The D-Fenders are now 15-5 on the season, while the Mad Ants improve to 9-12.


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