All good things must come to an end, and so it was on Monday night as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants defeated the Canton Charge 94-81 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Fort Wayne took charge early by hitting 53% and taking a 22-17 lead to end the first quarter. The second quarter held more of the same as the Mad Ants had a 7-0 run extending their lead to 29-17 in the early portion of the second quarter. Josh Selby stepped up to the challenge and connected for seven of the Charge’s next 13 points that when the run was finished brought the Charge to within four points with 5:17 left in the half. Fort Wayne took a timeout and regrouped and ended the half with a 17-5 run running up their lead to 51-35 at the mid-game break.
Turnovers were the key in the third quarter as the Mad Ants forced 12 points and kept a double-digit lead through the entire period. This was in spite of the Charge shooting 61%. The third quarter drew to a close with a 70-58 Fort Wayne advantage.
Canton fought back valiantly in the fourth quarter with a 15-6 run through the 6:00 minute mark and managed to chop the lead down to 82-78 with 4:02 left in the game. The Mad Ants got tough under their basket and rebounded five offensive rebounds for a series of second chance points which enabled them to run the clock out. The loss drops Canton to 18-12 for the season thus far as the Mad Ants climb up to 14-15.
Selby finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes for Canton. Micheal Eric supplied 13 points with eight rebounds and a steal in 26 minutes. Kyle Gibson poured in 15 points with three rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes. Arinze Onuaku came off the bench to add 12 points, nine rebounds and a block in 22 minutes. The Charge also had their four-game winning streak against the Mad Ants snapped in tonight’s loss, while they hadn’t lost a road game since December 22nd coming into tonight.
Tony Mitchell had a game-high 32 points for Fort Wayne, including 8-of-14 from the free-throw line, with six rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes. Luke Harangody added 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting with three rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes. Ron Howard came off the bench to provide 11 points and two steals in 25 minutes, while Sadiel Rojas grabbed 10 rebounds in 23 minutes of relief. On assignment from the Indiana Pacers, Miles Plumlee scored eight points with 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 35 minutes.
Canton will finish up before the All-Star break with a pair of games in the Lone Star State beginning with a matchup against the Austin Toros on Friday, February 8th at 8:00 p.m.
Fans can stay up-to-date on team news by following the team at: @CantonCharge on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CantonCharge and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CantonCharge.- CantonCharge.com -
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