Will Frisby, the Dakota Wizards' good-natured big man, was a little upset on Tuesday, because he thought he should have been one of the 20 players selected to play in the D-League all-star game.

Unfortunately for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, they offered Frisby the first chance to prove it.

Frisby played like a man possessed, scoring 26 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and even dishing off five assists as the Wizards downed the Mad Ants 106-98.

"It is what it is. I'm not on the committee to make the decision,"Frisby said with a laugh. "But I feel like I got short-changed on it, so I just wanted to show everybody that I think I belong. … I feel good."

Frisby was 11-for-15 from the floor, falling just short of his career-high of 29. Wizards coach Duane Ticknor was impressed.

"That may have been his best game ever as a Wizard - both ends of the floor, rebounding, finishing around the basket," Ticknor said.

"… He was really focused.He's been playing really well, but that was just a phenomenal effort."

On Saturday, the Wizards let a double-digit lead slip away in a 100-98 loss to the Mad Ants. And early on it looked as though they might drop another to their Central Division rivals.

Although Frisby was terrific from the outset, with 11 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, the rest of the Wizards took longer to come around.

Fort Wayne led virtually the entire first half, at one point building a 53-42 lead.

The Wizards got back in it with a 9-0 run near the end of the second quarter, sparked by dunks from Rod Benson and Blake Ahearn - that's right, Blake Ahearn.

Ahearn broke out of his slump, pouring in a game-high 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting.

Still, Fort Wayne led 58-57 at the break, and the Wizards were none too happy about it.

"I thought they just out-toughed us Saturday night, and I thought they out-toughed us again the first half tonight," Ticknor said.

But not in the second half.

After contributing no points and just three rebounds in the first half, Richard Hendrix began making up for lost time. After intermission the all-star forward collected 12 rebounds and blocked five shots.

Point guard Maurice Baker did his share of work on the boards as well, snatching a dozen rebounds, including several in crunch time.

With 5:17 to play the Wizards led just 91-89, but took control with an 8-2 spurt. Frisby and Renaldo Major scored four each during the run, with the latter hitting a huge jumper just as the shot clock expired with 3:20 to go.

Hendrix put an exclamation point on the win with 1:15 to play, slamming home the rebound of a miss by Major.

Ron Howard led the Mad Ants with 27 points. TajMcCullough chipped in 20, while Chris Hunter scored 17 and grabbed 17 rebounds.

But the Wizards held Fort Wayne's best player, point guard Walker Russell, in check. Russell, the D-League assist leader, had seven points and seven assists.

"We know we've just got to go under, fight over the top, just make it hard on him, and try to stay on our help side," Baker said.

The Wizards and Mad Ants aren't done with each other yet. Three of Dakota's next five games are against Fort Wayne.

"We said we were going to come out and beat their butts, because they gave it to us the first time," Frisby said.

Fort Wayne 33 58 79 98

Wizards 32 57 82 106

FORT WAYNE(98):Ron Howard 9-18 9-9 27, Taj McCullough 9-25 0-1 20, Chris Hunter 7-15 2-3 17, Carl Elliott 1-8 3-4 5, Walker Russell 3-9 0-1 7, Coleman Collins 2-7 3-6 7, DeWitt Scott 0-2 0-0 0, Sean Sonderleiter 5-6 2-3 12, Anthony Kent 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 37-93 20-29 98.

WIZARDS(106):Renaldo Major 8-17 2-4 18,Richard Hendrix 3-7 0-2 6, Will Frisby 11-15 4-5 26, Blake Ahearn 10-17 6-6 29, Maurice Baker 4-12 1-2 9, Rod Benson 6-8 0-1 12, David Bell 1-8 1-1 4, Brad Stricker 1-2 0-0 2, Jawaan McClellan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 44-87 14-21 106.

3-pointers:FW 4-15 (McCullough 2-10, Russell 1-1, Hunter 1-2, Howard 0-1, Elliott 0-1), W 4-11 (Ahearn 3-7, Bell 1-3, Baker 0-1). Rebounds:FW 48 (Hunter 17), W 53 (Hendrix 15, Baker 12, Frisby 11). Assists:FW 17 (Russell 7), W 28 (Baker 8). Fouls:FW 21, W 23. Technical fouls:FW 3 - 3 defensive 3-seconds. W 1 - Ahearn. Steals:FW 7 (McCullough 2, Collins 2), W 7 (Major 4). Turnovers:FW 13, W 15. Blocked shots: FW 5 (Hunter 2), W 9 (Hendrix 5).

A:1,758.

Records:FW 10-15, W 16-12.

n FLYINGHIGH:Ahearn's dunk in the final minute of the second quarter wasn't his first dunk as a Wizard, but it was his first in Bismarck. The 6-2 guard has dunked on at least two other occasions, at last year's D-League Showcase, and in Sioux Falls.

n QUICK WIT: Early in the second quarter of Tuesday's game, Fort Wayne coach Jaren Jackson loudly exhorted 6-foot-10, 250-pound center Sean Sonderleiter to be more quick on his defensive rotations.

A fan shouted, "You're asking the wrong guy to be quick!"

Even Sonderleiter laughed.