The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers' G League affiliate, have won three games in a row, including two over the past week.
Last Friday, the Mad Ants picked up their most dramatic victory of the season, defeating the Erie BayHawks (Atlanta's affiliate) on a buzzer beater by forward Omari Johnson.
Fort Wayne trailed 119-116 with a minute to play, but Pacers two-way guard Davon Reed's putback layup cut the deficit to one with 36.6 seconds to play. Reed then blocked former Pacers and Mad Ants forward Alex Poythress on the other end, giving the Mad Ants the ball and a chance to move back in front.
Point guard Tra-Deon Hollins drove right before dishing to Stephan Hicks on the left block. Poythress blocked Hicks' shot, but the ball bounced into the hands of Johnson, who quickly tossed it up and banked in the game-winner as the buzzer sounded.
The play capped a 20-point, 14-rebound performance from Johnson. Hicks and Rob Gray each added 22 points, while Hollins tallied 10 points, 15 assists, and six steals.
Pacers second-year center Ike Anigbogu also recorded a double-double in the victory, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds. Reed added 14 points, eight boards, and four assists.
The Mad Ants returned to action on Monday night, rolling to a 105-90 win over the Agua Caliente Clippers (the Clippers' affiliate) to finish off a sweep of a three-game homestand.
After traveling with the Pacers on their recent road trip, two-way guard Edmond Sumner returned to Fort Wayne and racked up 29 points on 14-of-21 shooting, five assists, and five steals in the victory.
Gray added 19 points off the bench, while both Hicks (17 points and 13 rebounds) and Travin Thibodeaux (11 points and 10 boards) recorded double-doubles.
As of Tuesday morning, the Mad Ants are 14-11 on the year and have a one-game lead in the Central Division. A number of Mad Ants players rank among the G League leaders.
Sumner is ninth in the G League in scoring at 22.3 points per game. Hollins is tied for the league lead in assists (8.3 per game) and tied for second in steals (2.4 per contest). Anigbogu is tied for the league lead in offensive rebounding (4.6 per game), eighth in total rebounding (10.6), and tied for ninth in blocks (2.0 per contest).
The Mad Ants hit the road on Friday to take on the Grand Rapids Drive (Detroit's affiliate), then return home to host the Lakeland Magic (Orlando's affiliate) on Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back. Both games are will tip 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 select Mad Ants games for free online.