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The Fort Report: Magic Number is One

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers' D-League affiliate, have all but locked up a playoff berth. After another strong week, the Mad Ants are 28-20 on the season and are one win away from clinching a spot in the postseason.

They can secure a playoff appearance with a loss by the Delaware 87ers or a win by the Maine Red Claws. The Mad Ants have two games left, while both Delaware and Maine play three more times.

Fort Wayne opened last week with a 101-95 win over the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte's affiliate, on March 21 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Former Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough had another monster game in the victory, racking up 18 points and 23 rebounds (eight of them offensive).

Stephan Hicks also had a double-double in the win, finishing with 18 points and 12 boards. Jordan Loyd, a rookie guard out of UIndy, added 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Travis Leslie chipped in 16 points and five rebounds off the bench.

The Mad Ants picked up another win on their home court on Friday, a 126-119 victory over the Grand Rapids Drive (Detroit's affiliate).

Hansbrough shared starring honors in this one with D-League All-Star Alex Poythress. Poythress, a rookie out of Kentucky and a Pacers training camp participant, scored a team-high 30 points on 12-of-16 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. Hansbrough recorded another double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds, going 8-for-15 from the field and 11-for-12 from the free throw line.

Three other players scored in double figures for Fort Wayne. Loyd had 21 points, Trey McKinney-Jones collected 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Leslie finished with 14 points.

The Mad Ants and Drive met again on Saturday in Grand Rapids in a game that featured one of the wildest finishes you will ever see. Fort Wayne entered the night with the ability to clinch a playoff spot with a win, but lost in dramatic fashion.

With the score tied at 95, the Mad Ants had the ball in the closing seconds with a seven-second differential between the shot clock and the game clock. With the shot clock approaching zero, Loyd took a contested fadeaway. He missed, but Poythress secured the rebound and put it back up and in to give Fort Wayne the lead with 5.6 seconds to play.

After a timeout, Grand Rapids drew up a solid out-of-bounds play that got Lorenzo Brown to the rim for the game-tying dunk with 2.6 seconds left.

The Mad Ants then took a timeout of their own, only to have Ray McCallum intercept Hansbrough's inbounds pass and quickly call a timeout with one second remaining.

Suddenly, the Drive had a chance to win the game. They attempted to run a lob play, but McCallum's pass was too high and bounced off the rim and toward the left baseline. Ramon Harris darted in from the corner and pushed the bouncing ball from his hip up off the glass and in for the game-winning basket.

The Mad Ants would have to wait until another day to celebrate locking up a postseason berth.

Hicks scored a team-high 25 points in the loss. Poythress (17 points and 10 rebounds), Hansbrough (16 points and 10 boards), and Loyd (13 points and 10 rebounds) all recorded double-doubles.

Poythress continues to lead Fort Wayne in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game to go along with 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. Hansbrough, meanwhile, has recorded seven double-doubles in 12 games since signing with the Mad Ants at the beginning of the month. The former national player of the year at North Carolina is averaging 16.3 points and 12.1 rebounds per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field.

The Mad Ants have two games left in the regular season. They could lock up a spot in the playoffs with a win on Tuesday afternoon, when they visit the Long Island Nets at 1:30 PM ET. They close out the regular season by hosting the Canton Charge on Saturday, April 1 at 7:00 PM ET.

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.