Recap: Iowa Energy 99, Ft. Wayne Mad Ants 84

Iowa remained the only unbeated team in the league by beating the Mad Ants, and they did it by forcing turnovers while not giving it up much themselves.  Fort Wayne actually got through the entire first quarter without a turnover, but then had 15 the rest of the way.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but when your opponent has just 10, that can be the difference.  The Mad Ants also are without a real point guard, and had just 12 assists as a team.

Point guard isn't a problem for the Energy, as they have Curtis Stinson, who finished with 16 points on six shots (6-8 from the free-throw line), 11 assists and eight rebounds.  Earl Barron has been one of those big men playing well that I alluded to in yesterday's game recaps, but he needed 19 shots to score 13 points.  Come to think of it, outside of Stinson, Pat Carroll (9-16, 21 points) and Shy Ely (4-6, eight points), no one really shot the ball well for Iowa.  There was solid rebounding up and down the roster, and as I mentioned earlier they limited their turnovers.  Nick Nurse's team was in control for the entire game.

It's kind of hard to find good performances for Fort Wayne.  Rob Kurz (another one of those notable big men) grabbed 13 rebounds, but he also shot just 3-13.  Ron Howard was about as bad, 5-19, and he shot 2-7 on threes.  It would be one thing if he were taking 13 shots at or near the rim, but Howard is taking a lot of jumpers that just aren't a reliable part of his arsenal; no way should he be attempting seven threes in a game.  Sean Sonderleiter had an okay game, 11 points and seven rebounds, but he was limited by foul trouble, having picked up four in about 24 and a half minutes.  This team couldn't move the ball around and couldn't hit shots, which is the pretty much the worst-case scenario for an offense.