Mad Ants start regular season with double-digit win

Submitted

The Indiana Mad Ants returned home Friday night to take on the Salt Lake City Stars. The game marked the official start of the regular season. The Mad Ants entered Friday with a three-game win streak highlighted by a sweep at the Winter Showcase. Cameron McGriff’s 24 points and Jahlil Okafor’s 17 rebounds helped pave the way for a Mad Ants victory.

On the first possession of the night, Dakota Mathias was fouled while attempting a mid-range field goal. He made the one-for-two free throw to score the first points of the night. Cameron McGriff made the first field goal for the Mad Ants with a contested layup. Mathias and Tristen Newton combined for five points on back-to-back possessions for Indiana.

Coming out of a timeout, Kyle Mangas brought the Mad Ants to within two points with a layup. On the next possession, a technical foul from Salt Lake City resulted in a made free throw from Mathias. The former Purdue connected from downtown a minute later. Newton scored his second basket at the five-minute mark. Indiana trailed 19-16.

In the final minutes of the first quarter, Mangas drew a foul and converted the one-for-two free throw. De’Vion Harmon scored his first points of the night on the following possession. Ishmael Lane, off the pass from Mangas, absorbed contact for the close-range floater. Trailing 28-25, Mathias made a long-range two-pointer to bring it to a one-point lead. A late field foal from the Stars made it a 29-27 deficit after one quarter. Mathias led the Mad Ants with nine points.

To start the second quarter, Mangas, off the outlet pass from Newton, tried to throw it down with force. He was fouled on the play and made the one-for-two free throw. Newton made the first field goal of the quarter for the Mad Ants with an off-balance floater in the lane. McGriff brought it to a two-point deficit with a left-handed slam off a pass from Newton. Salt Lake City turned the ball over and McGriff gave the Mad Ants the lead after knocking down a three-pointer. Indiana took a 36-35 lead. Mangas extended the lead with a three-ball on the next possession.

Halfway into the quarter, Mangas and McGriff made three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Mad Ants a 51-40 advantage. Mathias brought his point total to 10 after making a layup with Okafor getting the assist.

Down the stretch in the second quarter, Newton added to the lead with a corner three off the pass from Josiah-Jordan James. With under a minute to go, Mathias made a mid-range jumper with Mangas getting the assist. On the next possession, Mangas scored an easy layup off the feed from Newton. The Mad Ants went into halftime with a 63-56 lead. Mangas led the team with 14 points.

McGriff scored the first of the second half for the Mad Ants. Mangas found him slicing through the paint and McGriff finished the layup. Minutes into the third quarter, Indiana had a 65-60 lead. Nearly a minute later, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy made three points the hard way after making a basket, getting fouled and converting the free throw.

Six minutes into the second half, Mathias continued his hot shooting with a corner three off the James pass. Halfway through the third quarter the Mad Ants had a 76-66 lead. A minute later, McGriff added to his point total with a pullup jumper from the free throw line. That field goal gave him 19 points on the night.

In the final minutes of the third quarter, Harmon connected on a three-pointer off the assist from James. 30 seconds later, Harmon dashed through the lane for a left-handed layup. On the next possession, Lane cleaned up a miss from Newton with a contested layup. With 16 seconds remaining, Newton added to the lead with a three-pointer. At the end of the third quarter, the Mad Ants had a 95-88 lead. McGriff and Newton were tied for the team-high with 19 points each.

Newton scored the first points of the fourth quarter for the Mad Ants. Off a pass from James, he knocked down a three-pointer. On the next possession, Okafor found Mathias for another three-point field goal. Early in the quarter, Indiana had a 103-97 lead.

With six minutes left to go in regulation, head coach Tom Hankins called a timeout with the Mad Ants holding a 109-105 lead. Out of the timeout, McGriff cleaned up a miss from Mangas for a layup to increase the lead for Indiana.

With two minutes remaining, the Mad Ants had a 121-112 lead. Mathias extended the lead with a three-pointer off the pass from Mangas. Mathias had 23 points and Mangas had seven assists. Down to 35 seconds left, Mangas made one of his two free throw attempts to make it a 125-116 game. Okafor put the game away with two free throws down the stretch. Indiana defeated the Stars by a final score of 127-116.

* * *

The Mad Ants will host the Salt Lake City Stars at 6 p.m. tonight, Dec. 28. The team will take the floor wearing custom Dinosaur-themed uniforms for Dino Night. These jerseys will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to Grace Community Care Center Foundation in Noblesville. To place a bid on one of those jerseys, click here.

Indiana finishes 2024 with a road game against the Westchester Knicks on Monday, Dec. 30.