Iowa Wolves Hold Off Fort Wayne for First Road Win

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Six players finished in double figures on Friday night for the Iowa Wolves in a 127-124 road win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Iowa (5-3) controlled most of the game until Fort Wayne (4-3) went ahead by one point with 2:41 left in the game after the Mad Ants drilled three consecutive three-pointers to erase an eight-point deficit. The teams traded baskets before David Stockton’s pair of free throws put Fort Wayne up by four points with less than two minutes left.

But, Josh Minott, who recorded a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, buried a three-pointer to pull within one point. Iowa then forced a missed layup that was rebounded by two-way Luka Garza and Emmanuel Mudiay was fouled with 21.8 seconds left. After an unsuccessful coaches’ challenge, Mudiay made the two free throws to put Iowa up for good. Later, the Wolves forced a turnover and D.J. Carton made one of two free throws. Mudiay then picked off a bad pass for a steal and made one of two free throws. Fort Wayne didn’t get off a final shot as Iowa earned its first road victory.

Iowa was led by Garza who had a game-high 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds for his second-straight double-double. It is Garza’s third consecutive 30-plus scoring performance. He entered Friday’s game as the fourth leading scorer in the NBA G League at 26.6 points per game.

Mudiay tallied 21 points while two-way AJ Lawson in his Iowa debut recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Sampson had 15 points off the bench and made multiple key threes in the fourth quarter. Matt Lewis had 12 points.

Fort Wayne was led Trevelin Queen and Gabe York who each scored 24 points. Stockton added a points/assists double-double with 13 and 10. York entered Friday as the G League’s second top scorer at 27.7 points.

Iowa continues its road trip on Sunday with a 2 p.m. game at the Grand Rapids Gold.