Photo by MattAzevedo.com
Fort Wayne Mad Ants (19-10) def. Raptors 905 (22-9); 105-92 | Box Score
Assignees: Delon Wright, Bruno Caboclo (905), Georges Niang (Mad Ants)
In a battle of the top two seeds in the Eastern conference, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants used a whole lot of Jarrod Uthoff to hand the Raptors 905 their second straight defeat.
Uthoff finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds, SIX BLOCKS, three steals, and a couple of assists to slam the door on his past with the 905 shut in style. He had his outside game working with three perfect attempts from long-distance, and appears to fit in quite nicely on a Mad Ants roster filled with athleticism and rim rockers.
Jerry Stackhouse elected to go small in the backcourt tonight with Brady Heslip starting alongside Wright. Willy Sheehey and Axel Toupane both missing tonight’s contest through injury were obviously factors in the decision, but I’d like to think that John Jordan’s play of late added to coach Stackhouse’s confidence in doing so.
Wright was assigned to the 905 yesterday, and continued to show he’s ready to play. Wright brought out the oohs and ahhs from the sparse crowd with a Westbrook-like attack off a made bucket by the Mad Ants midway through the first quarter. Fort Wayne looked like they had numbers back but Wright kept coming, reaching that point of no return and somehow doing a 360 in the air before flipping the ball up for two of his eight first-quarter points.
Bruno had a lively start in this one; blocking Georges Niang inside, and then keeping two possessions alive for the 905 on the other end. He hit his beloved corner three, after hitting the side of the backboard on a drive and fade from the left baseline. You can’t win ’em all. He finished the game with eight points, seven boards, two steals and a block, but shot just 3-of-11 from the field. For those of you keeping track of the upgraded personal swag, he wore a right elbow sleeve tonight.
Despite the initial blocked attempt, Niang caused all sorts of problems for the 905 early; abusing Edy Tavares in the pick and roll. Niang finished the quarter with nine points, but was quieter after Stackhouse countered by checking Yanick Moreira into the game. It worked, as the 905 cut an early deficit to just two points entering the second quarter. Niang scored just two points the rest of the way.
The 905 quickly unraveled in the second quarter, finding themselves down 45-30 after a 24-11 run to open the quarter. Jarrod Uthoff (remember him?) capped off the run with five points on jumpers of consecutive possessions. The man he was traded for, Christian Watford, had a quiet night with just two points after catching fire in the previous game with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
After scoring 22 for the 905 in their previous game, Heslip kept up his hot shooting in the first half with 15 points that included three makes from long distance. He finished the game with 20 points, but failed to collect a single rebound or assist.
Not for the first time, my Facebook Live feed gave way with about five minutes to go in the third quarter, before returning with the score at 80-73 in favour of the bad guys with 8:54 to play. The 905 tried to chip away at the lead, but their attempts were put to waste by a determined Uthoff. He drained a couple of triples late to keep the 905 at bay, before Alex Poythress ended E.J. Singler’s career with a poster dunk that gave the Mad Ants a 103-88 lead with about a minute to play.
The 905 let an 18-point lead slip against the Grand Rapids on Saturday, and it appears they’ve hit a bit of a lull. This marks the first time all season that they’ve lost consecutive games on the road. Their largest losing streak this season has been three, so Stackhouse will be determined to stem the tide as soon as possible. He missed Saturday’s game in order to attend services for his childhood friend and former NBA player Charles Shackleford, who was found dead on January 27th.
Notes
- The Mad Ants bench outscored the 905 reserves 54-33, not a line you see often.
- Antwaine Wiggins was a solid contributor tonight with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He had a really nice move in isolation in the first half, crossing over to create some separation, before sneaking in a lay-in under the outstretched arm of the defender.
- Julyan Stone dropped the hammer on Moreira towards the end of the first half. It was nasty.
- The 905 will take on the Windy City Bulls at 8:00pm EST on Thursday to complete their four-game road swing.
- The 905 have another road game Thursday before returning home Saturday for a game that should include two, maybe three Raptors assignees. If you wanted to go to Saturday’s game – or any of the handful of remaining home games – you can go to this link and use the promo code REPUBLIC905 all season long, as the 905 are hooking RR readers up with discounted tickets (including for the Air Canada Centre game in March).
