Mad Ants fire back to shock Force

The NBA D-League postseason looked comfortable for the Skyforce again in Game 1 of Thursday's semifinals until a dramatic swing changed things entirely at the Sanford Pentagon.

Up 10 with less than 5 minutes remaining, the Skyforce wound up dropping a 113-111 decision to top-seeded Fort Wayne in the best-of-3 series with a trip to the D-League finals at stake.

The game-winning shot was as astounding as the Sioux Falls collapse. Mad Ants sub Tony Mitchell hit a contested, twisting bank shot over standout defender DeAndre Liggins with 4 seconds remaining.

The Force got one shot to force overtime, but it wasn't close.

Just like that, fourth-seeded Sioux Falls was put on the brink of elimination. It'll have to win Saturday and Monday at Fort Wayne – a club that has won 16 of its last 18 games – in order to get into the finals.

Talk about a wholly different scenario than being up 1-0 as seemed likely when the Skyforce led 104-94 with 4:45 remaining in regulation.

"Deflating, obviously," Sioux Falls coach Pat Delany said. "Really tough loss to have a fourth quarter like that."

That's as demonstrative as the first-year coach – a product of the Miami Heat and their even-keel culture – has been all season. Furthermore, Delany blamed himself for not doing a better job of guiding Sioux Falls to the final horn.

Then again, there were plenty of regrettable moments for both clubs especially in the fourth quarter. Turnovers piled up – the Skyforce committed 10 and the Mad Ants seven – along with disqualifications. Sioux Falls center Craig Smith got ejected with 9:43 remaining, adding Fort Wayne in the first of two surges in the period. Subsequently, four players fouled out – one for the hosts and three for the visitors, all key contributors. It created for a wild end to the game and maybe the home season for the Force.

Sioux Falls led 92-80 early in the fourth before Fort Wayne made a 12-2 run. The Force pushed the edge back to 10 only to surrender an 18-5 spurt that put them behind with 29 ticks to go. It was their first deficit since 66-64 early in the third quarter – and it started by giving up a five-point possession.

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-6 Mitchell scored the last six for the Mad Ants, a stretch interrupted only by two Liggins foul shots with 24 seconds remaining. It was shorter if more stomach churning than his 49-point outburst against the Force last season at the Arena.

"I was trying to get it down so I could at least draw 2-3 people so I could drive and kick," said Mitchell, who totaled 19 points on 6 of 16 shooting. "At the last minute they hopped back on their man so I had to try to do something. I said, 'Put it on the rim; hopefully we can get an offensive tip-in from somebody.'"

Henry Walker led the Skyforce with 24 points before fouling out with 1:20 remaining. Liggins put up 19, plus 13 rebounds and eight assists while reserve rookie A.J. Davis added 19 – two shy of his total from the quarterfinal series. Walker and Davis both scored 10 in the third quarter to help Sioux Falls gain separation at 91-79 heading into the final period.

There were seven ties and 15 lead changes in the first half and nobody led by more than six until the late stages of the third. That's when the Force cranked up their defense, created easy offensive from ravenous defense and fired up the crowd.

"We had the game," Davis said.

It sure looked that way. And with the game in hand, Sioux Falls would have been set up for two chances to get one win at Fort Wayne and earn a berth in the finals for the first time since joining the D-League in 2006. It also would have home-court advantage in the next round.

Instead, the Skyforce are up against it heading to Indiana.

"It's the first one to two," Delany said of the series. "I told our guys that our motto all season has been easy versus hard. It would have been a lot easier to take care of this one, but I have no doubt our guys will respond."

FORT WAYNE 113, SKYFORCE 111

The stat: Sioux Falls led by 10 points with less than five minutes left, but an 18-5 Fort Wayne run gave the Mad Ants the lead. Henry Walker led the Force with 24 points.

Game 2: Saturday at Fort Wayne (Ind.), 6:30 p.m.