Brown Scores 24, Grabs 20 Rebounds in Blue Victory over Mad Ants

ORLANDO, Feb. 16, 2021 – The Oklahoma City Blue (3-1) defeated the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (1-4), 112-105, on Tuesday. Thunder two-way player Moses Brown led the way for Oklahoma City as he produced his first 20/20 game, finishing with 24 points and a career-high 20 rebounds while blocking three shots.

The Blue went up by as many as 20 points in the first half after it held Fort Wayne scoreless the first five and a half minutes of the second quarter. Then Naz Mitrou-Long hit a three-pointer to help Fort Wayne respond with a run of its own. The Mad Ants outscored the Blue 22-11 at the end of the second frame to cut the lead to nine at the half.

“Fort Wayne is a good team, they play hard, they attack the glass,” Head Coach Grant Gibbs said. “We had to get stops. We had to execute down the stretch. I think for us to win one like that, we had to get contributions from a lot of different guys.”

The momentum carried over into the third period for the Mad Ants as they rallied to tie the game at 64. Oklahoma City used an 11-0 run to quickly regain the upper hand and extend its lead back to double digits going into the fourth quarter. The Blue scored 15 unanswered points early in the fourth to go ahead by as many as 21 points. In the final minutes of the game, the Mad Ants were able to pull within five until Zavier Simpson drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to seal the win for the Blue.

Four Oklahoma City players scored in double figures as Simpson finished with 13 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals. Ömer Yurtseven led the Blue reserves as he produced 16 points and eight rebounds, going 8-for-12 from the floor.

Thunder assignment player Ty Jerome contributed six points and four rebounds, while Aleksej Pokuševski dished out three assists to go with three boards while swatting a block.

Oshae Brissett led the Mad Ants with a 16-point, 18-rebound double-double of his own.

The Blue will return to action to complete another back-to-back tomorrow against the Memphis Hustle at 6:30 p.m. CT at The Field House.