The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers' D-League affiliate, put together another strong week, sweeping a two-game road trip through New York. After wins over the Long Island Nets and the Westchester Knicks, the Mad Ants are now 15-7 on the season. Fort Wayne has the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and is just a half-game behind first-place Raptors 905.
The star of the week was rookie forward Alex Poythress, the former Kentucky Wildcat and Pacers training camp invitee. The 6-7 forward averaged 31.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks over the two victories, shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 79.2 percent from the free throw line.
The Mad Ants opened the week with a 120-112 victory over the Long Island Nets. Poythress led all scorers with 28 points, going 9-for-15 from the field and 10-for-12 from the charity stripe, to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Three other Mad Ants players scored 20 or more points in the victory. Stephan Hicks had 25 points (going 4-for-7 from 3-point range), eight rebounds, and six assists. Travis Leslie added 22 points, while Trey McKinney-Jones chipped in 20. Jordan Loyd, a rookie guard out of UIndy, contributed 16 points off the bench.
Former Pike High School star R.J. Hunter led the Nets with 22 points off the bench on 9-of-16 shooting.
Then on Thursday, Fort Wayne went into Westchester and walked away with a 119-111 win. The Mad Ants actually trailed by seven early in the fourth quarter before rallying for the win. All told, Fort Wayne outscored the Knicks 39-27 in the final frame.
Poythress had another huge game, finishing with 35 points on 12-of-26 shooting, 12 rebounds, and three blocks.
McKinney-Jones played the Robin to Poythress' Batman, adding 28 points and getting to the line early and often. McKinney-Jones went a perfect 17-for-17 from the charity stripe in the win.
Three other Mad Ants scored in double figures (Hicks had 20 points, Loyd scored 12, and Adam Woodbuy added 11), while point guard Julyan Stone flirted with a triple-double. Stone, another Pacers training camp participant, finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals.
Stone remains second in the D-League in assists, averaging 8.4 per game. After his strong week, Poythress has moved into a tie for 14th in scoring at 19.5 points per game and is sixth in the league in blocks at 1.8 per contest.
This week, all the D-League teams will travel to Mississauga, Ontario for the annual D-League Showcase. The five-day event brings all the teams to one city for scouting purposes and features 22 games over five days.
The Mad Ants will play twice in the Showcase, taking on the Windy City Bulls on Thursday and the Maine Red Claws on Saturday, with both contests set to tip off at 12:30 PM ET.
Fort Wayne will have plenty of reinforcements this week. The Pacers announced on Tuesday that they have assigned second-year players Rakeem Christmas and Joe Young to the D-League.
In addition, former Providence star forward Ben Bentil rejoined the Mad Ants this week after a stint in China. Bentil briefly signed with the Pacers during training camp so that he could join the Mad Ants as an affiliate player. The 6-9 rookie scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Fort Wayne's season-opening win before leaving to sign a short-term contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
Stay tuned to Pacers.com for continued updates on the Mad Ants, and make sure to check out Pacers.com/MadAntsTV » to watch Mad Ants games free online.
