Fort Wayne, Niang come back to beat Maine, Nader in game two

Abdel Nader drives into the lane in the D-League playoffs. (Courtesy: dleague.nba.com)

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants outscored the Maine Red Claws 34-22 in the fourth quarter on Monday in order to complete a 111-110 come-from-behind win in game two of the first round of the NBA D-League playoffs.

Fort Wayne’s win evened the series at 1 game apiece with a deciding game three scheduled for Wednesday night.

Former Cyclone Georges Niang scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the winning effort for the Mad Ants. On the other side, former Cyclone Abdel Nader scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished five assists for Maine.

This Nader dunk in which he spins past Niang in the lane in order to reach the rim was named the play of the game.

Nader scored 23 points in Maine’s game one win late last week. Niang scored 13, on 6-of-22 shooting, in a game that required a furious Maine comeback plus one overtime period.

You can catch game three of the series on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. central time. All NBA D-League games are streamed on Facebook Live.

Jared Stansbury

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Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.

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