FORT WAYNE – There may be a new year on the horizon, but the Mad Ants are fighting the same, familiar demon of finding a way to win inside Memorial Coliseum.

For the fourth consecutive game, and fifth time in the last six on their home floor, the Ants were beaten; this time by the D-Fenders from Los Angeles, 104-97 in overtime.

The losing streak is a counter-punch to a time when the franchise should be at its optimistic peak, now that five NBA training camp players have returned to the Ants, plus an acquisition from the Milwaukee Bucks in 6-foot-7 guard Darington Hobson.

Owning possession of the basketball with an 89-85 lead with a shade over a minute to play, the Ants (4-8) let the lead slip away when Los Angeles caught them at 89-all with 35.2 seconds remaining.

A high-arching bank shot from Walker Russell Jr. put the Ants in the lead 91-89 with 25.4 seconds left, but L.A. got a putback off a rebound from Mardy Collins with 15.6 seconds remaining to tie the game 91-91.

The Ants had an opportunity to win in regulation when Russell, dribbling down the clock, began a right-side drive with four seconds left. With the D-Fenders defending 6-11 center Chris Hunter inside, Russell shot from close range but missed badly, high off the backboard.

“It was for me to penetrate and see what happens,” said Russell, who had seven points and 11 assists. “I had the shot and (a Los Angeles player) hit my arm. Nothing I could do. I missed the shot.”

In the overtime, the D-Fenders (10-6) rarely missed a shot and broke out to an insurmountable 100-94 lead with 1:19 remaining.

“It’s one we should’ve won,” a visibly upset Fort Wayne coach Joey Meyer said. “We should’ve had this game. We had a four-point lead with a minute to go. … We had our opportunities. I can’t argue with that. Lord knows, if we make a free throw or get a defensive rebound or make one more shot …”

Trailing 76-65 going into the fourth quarter, the Ants took a healthy drink from the well of momentum when, behind 82-73, they took off on 16-3 run to take an 89-85 lead on Hunter’s close-range basket off a Darnell Lazare feed with 1:50 remaining.

Los Angeles even turned the ball over on its next possession, but L.A. turned an off-balance jumper from Cam Jones into a quick bucket with 1:06 left in regulation to get within two.

After the Ants had shots from Hunter and Lazare miss, Los Angeles’s 5-11 guard, Courtney Fortson, tumbled near midcourt when bumped by Ron Howard. Fortson, who burned the Ants for 30 points, dropped two free throws with 35.2 seconds to tie the game at 89-all.

“We had the game in our hand,” Meyer reiterated. “We played well enough to win, and we haven’t done that in a while. And when we finally do, we don’t make the plays when it counts.”

Lazare led the Ants with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Howard finished with 23.

stwarden@jg.net