South Bay Splits Series 

Fort Wayne used a monster second half, scoring a co-franchise best 47 points in the third quarter and a season best 83 points in the second half to beat South Bay in the second of a two game series, 132-128.

Trevelin Queen had the second most points by a player in a half in Mad Ants franchise history in the second half of the game with 33; coming after he scored just two points in the first half

Fort Wayne shot 55.9 percent from the field to 56.1 percent from South Bay

The first quarter was a seesaw battle with both teams establishing six-point leads. For South Bay, it was the steady hand of Jay Huff that again started them strong. Huff went 5-of-5 from the field in the opening quarter to push the Lakers to a 31-25 lead.

In the second quarter, Fort Wayne was an aggressor with Kendall Brown creating spacing to lead the Mad Ant scoring. Brown was 4-of-5 in the second quarter and 7-of-8 in the first half to pace Fort Wayne with 16 points. Meanwhile, the Lakers pushed their lead out past 20 points with second shot opportunities and timely three-point shots. South Bay hit four threes while pulling down four offensive rebounds in the second and took a 63-49 lead to the halftime break.

In the first half, the Lakers converted 21 fast break points to just two from the Mad Ants.

The third quarter belonged to Trevelin Queen; the Pacers two-way player scored 19 of his game high 35 points in the third quarter alone to help will Fort Wayne back into the game. The Lakers had built up a 79-58 lead with 7:55 to play in the third on a lob to Huff, but a late third quarter 7-0 Mad Ants run cut the lead back to 11. Fort Wayne kept pushing and with 2.1 seconds left, Queen buried a three pointer that tied the game at 96 after three. Fort Wayne ended the third quarter on a 24-6 run.

The Mad Ants did not stop there as Queen opened the fourth with another three pointer to give Fort Wayne back the lead. That lead bounced back and forth in the fourth with nine total lead changes in the frame. The Lakers built up a 107-103 lead with 8:03 to play on a Devin Cannady three, but again Queen and Fort Wayne fought back as he tied the game at 109 with 6:39 to play. The game remained gridlocked until Jermaine Samuels Jr. stripped the ball from Huff, leading to a Justin Anderson basket with 1:30 to play to put Fort Wayne up for good at 128-126.

Behind Queen’s 35-point, nine rebound outburst, five other Mad Ants scored in double figures with Anderson’s 21 points and 11 assists, a career best 20 points from Kendal Brown, 16 each from Jermaine Samuels and Gabe York and 14 points out of Elfrid Payton. Fort Wayne’s 47 points tied a franchise record for most points in a third quarter; their 83 points in the second half was the second most in a half in franchise history.

South Bay was paced by Huff’s 24 points and 13 rebounds and Cole Swider’s 23 points with five three point makes. Shaquille Harrison scored 21 points and had 14 assists and Nate Pierre-Louis scored 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting.