The Motor City Cruise would have a chance to bounce back right away against the team they dropped a close one to the previous night. They would welcome the Fort Wayne Mad Ants to Wayne State Fieldhouse again as the two squared off in back-to-back nights.
Setting the Tone Early
Motor City would put together a really nice first quarter on Monday night. This was a tightly contested opening quarter throughout, but the Cruise really set the tone on the defensive end by holding Fort Wayne to just 19 points in the quarter. They would hold a 22-19 lead heading into the second. Devontae Cacock continued his hot play of late. Cacock would lead the Cruise scoring with 8 points in the opening quarter.
There would be some lapses on the defensive end for Motor City in the second quarter. Fort Wayne would use a 10-4 run midway through the quarter to take a 35-28 advantage. Motor City would limit the runs from there but would trail heading into the half, 50-47. Gabe York had a big quarter for the Mad Ants. He would knock down three 3-pointers en route to 9 points in the quarter. The balanced scoring of the Cruise would keep this one close, however.
With a Fury
Motor City would start to fall apart a bit after the half. Fort Wayne would put together some big runs in the third quarter to gain some breathing room. The Mad Ants would go on scoring runs of 12-5, 8-2, and 10-4 to take a nice lead into the final quarter. It would be 93-66 heading to the fourth.
The Cruise would have a renewed sense of energy to try and get back in the game. They would put together a couple of nice runs of 6-0 and 7-2 to climb back. The Cruise would get the lead down to eleven points but couldn’t get it to single digits late. It would be a valiant effort, but Fort Wayne would take it, 115-103. Braxton Key was back for the Cruise in this one; Key had a monster quarter to help Motor City fight. He finished with 16 points in the final twelve minutes. Jaylen Johnson helped lead that charge with 7 points of his own in the quarter.
The Numbers
Gabe York had himself a game off the bench for Fort Wayne. York would score 30 points on 11 of 16 shooting. Trevelin Queen had another solid game against the Cruise, putting up 25 points and 6 rebounds in the contest. Justin Anderson added 20 points and 8 rebounds. Jermaine Samuels did a little bit of everything adding 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Norvel Pelle finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds.
Braxton Key led the charge in trying to get back in the game for the Cruise. He finished as the top scorer on the night with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Devontae Cacock would continue his fantastic play of late, finishing with 18 points and dominating the glass with 17 rebounds. He would go 6 of 11 shooting on the night. Buddy Boeheim was able to get going a bit on the night. He provided 13 points, including 3 makes from long range. RJ Nembhard struggled with his shot in the game but pitched in, in other ways. He added 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Jaylen Johnson finished with 9 points off the Motor City bench. ShawnDre Jones helped spark the bench with 7 points.
Next up
Fort Wayne will move to 6-3 on the season. They’ll face the Windy City Bulls in a big showdown on Saturday. Fort Wayne will now be at 2-8 on the season. It isn’t the way they wanted to get started this year, but they’ll have a chance to gain some momentum when they take on a solid Iowa Wolves team on Friday. That game is slated for an 11:00 AM start time at Wayne State Fieldhouse.
