Devin Ebanks has been on fire since mid-January. The Grand Rapids Drive forward had a team-high 28 points in a 111-105 win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Saturday night in front of 4,268 fans as the DeltaPlex Arena. Grand Rapids, the affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, improves to 14-13, which is 6.5 games behind first-place Sioux Falls in the Central Division. Fort Wayne, whose parent club is the Indiana Pacers, falls to 13-16. It has lost three in a row. Ebanks, a 6-foot-9 forward out of West Virginia, was 9-17 shooting. He has averaged 25.5 points per game over his last eight games. He set a Grand Rapids record with 43 points on Jan. 18 against Maine. Gary Talton had a season-high 18 points for the Drive. He was followed by Henry Sims with 16 points and Lorenzo Brown with 13. Ismael Romero had four points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Walter Lemon Jr., a 6-foot-3 guard out of Bradley University, had a team-high 22 points. C.J. Fair added 20 points. He was followed by Rakeem Christmas (18), John Lucas III (14), Xavier Thames (11) and Terran Petteway (11). Lemon got an outlet pass from Christmas and jammed it home with authority with 2:11 to go in the third quarter. Lemon was selected for the D-League All-Star Game Slam Dunk Contest, which will take place on Feb. 13. Fort Wayne was down by 20 points early in the fourth quarter and got within five points at the end of the game. Ebanks had 18 points at the break as Grand Rapids led 60-45 at halftime. Talton drained three 3-pointers in the first quarter to help Grand Rapids to a 32-20 lead. Talton, a 6-foot-1 guard out of Illinois-Chicago, played 32 games with Fort Wayne last season. Kelsey Barlow, midway through the second quarter, threw a behind-the-back bounce pass to Ebanks, who drained a 3-pointer for a 43-26 lead. Fort Wayne next plays Tuesday when it hosts the Delaware 87ers in a 7 p.m. EST contest. Grand Rapids heads on the road to play the Canton Charge on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Press release
