Mad Ants cough up late lead in loss

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Sioux Falls Skyforce outlasted the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in a fourth quarter battle to give them a 96-91 victory.

Alexander Johnson scored 11 first quarter points on 4 of 4 shooting to give the Skyforce a 24-18 lead. The Mad Ants tried to even the score in the second and found themselves down only 5 points going into the locker rooms at the half.

The Mad Ants took the lead for the first time of the game with four minutes remaining in the third. They finished the period with a 3 point lead, 72-69.

The fourth quarter turned out to be a battle, with less than a minute on the clock the Skyforce were up just two, 90-88 as Rod Wilmont came up with a big steal followed by a Rob Kurz 3 pointer to give the Ants the 91-90 lead. Leemire Goldwire answered quickly with a layup to give the one point lead back to the Skyforce. The Mad Ants were unable to steal the lead back as David Bailey hit two free throws to seal the deal.

The Ants were led by Dan Dickau who finished with 21 points and 6 assists. Oliver Lafayette and Sean Sonderleiter contributed 18 and 17 respectively as Kurz finished with a double-double, 10 rebounds and 11 points.

Johnson led all scorers with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Goldwire scored 16 points off the bench as Greag Stiesman chipped in 12.