Herd still winless in December

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Jacob Link / Advance-Titan — The Herd’s Jordan Bone drives on David Stockton in Wednesday’s loss to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants at the Oshkosh Arena.

Jacob Link, Co-Sports Editor

Sandro Mamukelashvili had a game-high 26 points, but the Wisconsin Herd fell to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants 128-114 Friday night at the Oshkosh Arena.

After a Joe Wieskamp 3-pointer cut the Fort Wayne lead to just four points, the Mad Ants (10-6) went on a 21- 4 run midway through the fourth quarter and controlled the game the rest of the way. Fort Wayne only scored 15 points in the final six minutes of the game, but the Herd (6-10) could not climb their way back as they found themselves down 14 points when the final buzzer sounded.

The Herd took the lead on their first possession after a layup from Mamukelashvili and jumped out to a 14-6 lead to open the first quarter. Wisconsin built its lead to 10 points with just under six minutes to go in the period, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Fort Wayne’s Justin Anderson jumpstarted an 18-7 run from the Mad Ants to take the lead. The Herd’s Lindell Wigginton nailed a 3-pointer with just three seconds to go in the first quarter as the two teams went into the break tied at 30.

Both teams traded baskets for most of the second quarter until Fort Wayne went on an 8-0 run with under two minutes to go in the half following back-to-back jumpers from Gabe York and Pedro Bradshaw. Wisconsin would cut the lead to just three points with under a minute to play, but Chris Duarte added six points in the final 50 seconds of the quarter to give Fort Wayne a 64-57 lead going into halftime.

Fort Wayne increased its lead to nine just after halftime following a David Stockton fadeaway jumper that banked off the glass. The Herd could not tie the game during the third quarter, coming within two points before Fort Wayne added a 7-2 run to close out the period on top 92-85.

Mamukelashvili finished the game with a double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds to go along with his 26 points. Wieskamp scored 25 points and had six rebounds, while Jordan Bone added another 13 points and seven assists. Off the bench, Iverson Molinar and Elijah Hughes scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

For the Mad Ants, York led the team with 25 points off the bench. Forward Justin Anderson led the team with 22 points and had seven rebounds and five assists. Center Jermaine Samuels Jr. had a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with his 20 points, while Chris Duarte, on assignment from the Indiana Pacers, added 17 points and six rebounds.

The Herd will take on the Birmingham Squadron (6-10) in the AT&T Winter Showcase at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas tomorrow at 3 p.m.