Ants get big win

Mad Antics

The D-League will hold its annual national tryouts June 15 in New York. The one-day event will see 200 hopefuls in full-court games in front of team executives, coaches and scouts.May 16, 2013

Howard, Smith work at Development League camp

Mad Ants guard Ron Howard and center Tommy Smith accepted invitations to the NBA Development League Elite Mini Camp, which started Monday and runs through Tuesday in Chicago.May 13, 2013

Record year for D-League

It wasn't only the Mad Ants that made 2012-13 their best season; the rest of the NBA Development League had a record-setting year, as well.May 1, 2013

There have been bigger wins in the five-plus years that the Mad Ants have been around, but I can't remember one better than the 102-86 victory over Santa Cruz on Thursday at Memorial Coliseum.

Santa Cruz is a pretty good team. It came into town with the best record in the D-League at 9-2, and now it's 9-3.

But the Ants played defense, played with passion, played with intelligence and hammered Santa Cruz in the final quarter, 31-14.

This time, it was Fort Wayne that was putting teams away, rather than the other way around.

Tony Mitchell was great for the Ants, with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

Indiana Pacers guard Orlando Johnson and Ron Howard had 25 points and six assists each.

And Brandon Wallace, the 6-foot-8 veteran who sat the bench for three quarters but played the entire fourth, finished with six points and 12 rebounds.

Should be an interesting game Saturday when the same two teams play again at 7:30 p.m.