Just one game again last night and it wasn't ever all that close past about the middle of the first quarter. Maine closed the game in the second half, but Fort Wayne always had an answer for them, usually by scoring in the paint.
- Maine had an interesting starting lineup, essentially four guards (Russell Robinson, Morris Almond, Maurice Ager and Billy Thomas) and a big man (Darnell Lazare). There wasn't much of a rebound discrepancy overall (Fort Wayne finished with a 44-42 advantage), but Jared Reiner was cleaning up inside in the second half. It's pretty close to Iowa's strategy, only Earl Barron is much better than Lazare.
- Maine also couldn't hit anything. Almond, Ager and Thomas shot a combined 0-12 from outside, while Trey Gilder and T.J. Cummings were 1-4 and 1-7 on two-pointers, respectively. It may just be a matter of everyone getting comfortable with their roles with the new players coming in.
- Speaking of which, Paul Davis was back for the Red Claws, and he finished on 17 points on six shots and eight boards. He played just 24 minutes, and I'm guessing it's because when I saw him in the second half, he looked a bit slow and probably wore down after not playing for awhile.
- Jared Reiner had 17 rebounds along with 12 points, most of which came off of offensive rebounds and putbacks. He also played some decent defense against Davis, though as I mentioned that may have been more to Davis wearing down as the game went on.
- Rob Kurz played very well, with 26 points, six rebounds and six steals. He could've finished with more rebounds, but deferred to Reiner on several of them.
- Ryan Ayers also had an excellent game, apparently. I say "apparently" because despite finishing with 15 points on 5-7 shooting (3-4 from outside), I don't remember seeing him in the game at all in the second half. I do remember seeing him check out the dance team, though.