For the first time in their six-year history as a member of the NBA Development League, the Mad Ants not only had a winning regular season record (27-23), but also qualified for the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.FORT WAYNE – When: 7 p.m. today
Where: Canton, Ohio
Records: Mad Ants 2-5, Canton 2-5
Web:
Mad Ants leaders: Ron Howard (22 ppg), JaJuan Johnson (11.2 rpg), Walker Russell Jr. (5.9 apg)
Canton leaders: Kyle Gibson (16 ppg), Arinze Onuaku (9.3 rpg), Kevin Anderson (4 apg)
Key matchup: Now that 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward Kevin Jones has been called up to the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, 6-5 guard Kyle Gibson has tried to pick up some of the scoring slack for the Charge. In a 118-88 victory over Springfield, Gibson had 25 points. In the Ants’ 86-75 victory over Canton on Nov. 28, Jones had 24 points, while Gibson was 3 of 16 from the floor for 9 points. Canton also has 6-10 forward Jon Leuer, the former Wisconsin player who averages 15.5 points and 9 rebounds. He played five games with the Cavs this season, and last season was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The skinny: The Ants are trying to break off a three-game losing streak, all on the road. Veteran center Sean Sonderleiter is expected to be waived today. He did not play in the Ants’ most recent game against Maine and played three minutes in the team’s loss at Springfield. In six games this season, he averaged 12 minutes, 1.7 points and 2 rebounds. The Ants’ other big man, Johnson, played only 22 minutes in the Ants’ 116-113 loss at Maine, where the former Purdue All-American scored six points and had four rebounds.
