Mad Ants King of the Hill on Saturday Sending Skyforce Back to .500 Mark

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants used an infusion of new talent to swarm the Sioux Falls Skyforce 111-93 Saturday night at the Sanford Pentagon.  

Roster turnover is inevitable in the NBADL, so a few changes after Fort Wayne (2-4) dropped their first 3 games of the season isn’t surprising.  However following a lackluster loss at home with a blowout road win speaks of the arduous task it is to get wins.  The Mad Ants being the only independent team with 13 NBA affiliates fielded an interesting lineup that featured three assignees from two different teams to great success.

John Jenkins scored 25 points to lead all scorers while on loan from the Atlanta Hawks.  Fellow Hawk Adriean Payne contributed 10 points and 9 rebounds.  The other loaner came from the Washington Wizards in the form of Glen Rice, Jr. with 6 points.

Sioux Falls (2-2) lost 2 of the 3 games on their brief homestand over two weekends with most of the same lineup.  The lone exception would be Tyler Johnson who suffered a leg injury against Iowa last weekend and aggravated the condition against Maine.

All five starters scored in double figures for the ‘Force with Khem Birch scoring 19 with 10 rebounds and A.J. Davis backing up last night’s breakout performance with another 15 points.  Birch was also a beast defensively and you can check the video below for verification.

By the middle of the first quarter, Fort Wayne had seized the lead only allowing the Skyforce to close to within 4 points and holding a lead of double digits for a majority of the contest.  The Mad Ants shot 50 percent from the floor and got to the line 29 times, making 24 tosses.   Sioux Falls conversely was 9 of 12 from the stripe.

Both teams will be on the court Tuesday.  Sioux Falls will head to Delaware to hook up with the 87ers while Fort Wayne plays host to the Iowa Energy.