Indiana Mad Ants’ Harmon flirts with triple-double in Thursday defeat

The REPORTER

The Indiana Mad Ants traveled to Delaware for an afternoon with the Blue Coats. The Mad Ants fell behind early and attempted to fight back throughout much of the game. In the end, Indiana was defeated by a final score of 113-103. De’Vion Harmon had a standout performance with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Indiana.

The Mad Ants played their second game in 24 hours after taking on Capital City on Wednesday. Jahlil Okafor scored the first points for the Mad Ants. The former 76er battled through multiple defenders for a close-range hook shot.

With 6:30 left in the first quarter, the Mad Ants had an 11-10 advantage. Coming out of a timeout, Boogie Ellis extended the lead with a floater. On the next possession, Dakota Mathias scored with an off-balance jumper.

After a strong start, the offense stalled a bit for the Mad Ants in the second half of the first quarter. Heading into the second quarter, Delaware led 31-22. De’Vion Harmon led Indiana with seven first quarter points.

Harmon scored the first points of the second quarter for Indiana. In transition from a Delaware miss, the Texas Tech alum scored with a running layup. Next time down the floor, Okafor scored with a finger roll layup through traffic.

The Mad Ants trailed 48-36 halfway through the second quarter. Cameron McGriff cut the deficit back to single digits with a three-point field goal.

With two minutes left in the first half, Stephan Hicks knocked down a corner three. Next time down the floor, Harmon scored with a layup off the glass. At the end of the first half, the Mad Ants trailed 55-48. Harmon led Indiana with 13 points thus far.

In the early part of the third quarter, Indiana fell behind by 14 points. Mathias ended the scoring drought with a three-pointer. The Purdue alum made four of his first eight shots from long range.

Halfway through the quarter, the Mad Ants continued to fight back. Obadiah Noel scored two points with a free throw. Next time down the floor, McGriff drained a three-pointer in the corner. Indiana trailed 64-58 with 5:45 remaining in the quarter.

In the final minutes of the third quarter, McGriff made his third three-pointer of the afternoon. 45 seconds later, Mathias worked his way to the rim and scored with a reverse layup. On the next possession, Harmon brought it to a four-point deficit with a layup. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Mad Ants trailed 82-74. Harmon led Indiana with 19 points through three quarters.

McGriff scored the first points for the Mad Ants in the fourth quarter. The Oklahoma State alum battled through defenders to score with a layup. Two possessions later, Mathias scored with a baseline jumper.

The Mad Ants continued to fight back in the fourth quarter. McGriff knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 105-95 ballgame. With 2:30 remaining, Josiah-Jordan James drained a three-pointer to make it a nine-point game.

The comeback effort was ultimately unsuccessful for Indiana as Delaware pulled away in the final minutes of regulation.

The Indiana Mad Ants conclude their road trip on Saturday against the Windy City Bulls. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. The final Mad Ants home game of the regular season comes on Monday, March against Windy City. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Indiana wraps up the regular season with two games at Grand Rapids on the 27th and 29th.