Sports stats



Dragons Earn Key Victory In Defensive Battle With Flight, 90-84

April 2, 2005 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga.— Led by the NBDL's top defense, the Columbus Riverdragons held the Huntsville Flight to 36 points in the second half and earned a hard-fought 90-84 victory at the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday night. With the win, Columbus can clinch the 2004-05 regular season title, number-one seed, and homecourt advantage in the upcoming 2005 NBDL Playoffs with a victory at Asheville on Wednesday.

The Riverdragons (28-17) finally were able to get the monkey off their backs, defeating Huntsville (25-20) for the first time since February and claimed just their third victory in ten games with the Flight this season. The win was just the fourth victory in the last 19 games head-to-head with Huntsville.

With Roanoke's loss at Asheville on Saturday night, the Dragons moved two-and-a-half games ahead of the second-place Dazzle and three full games ahead of the Flight and Altitude in the standings heading into the final week of the regular season. Columbus, Huntsville and Asheville have three games remaining over the final week, while Roanoke has just two left on its schedule.

Columbus grabbed the early lead, outscoring Huntsville 22-17 in the first quarter behind ten points from Derrick Zimmerman. The NBDL's 2004-05 Defensive Player of the Year showed his offensive touch by hitting four of five from the field as the Dragons hit 56% of their shots overall to claim the five-point lead after one. The Flight shot 50% from the field to stay close, as Cedric Henderson and Earl Barron had six points apiece.

Huntsville rallied back in the second period behind balanced a balanced attack, as nine Flight players registered in the scoring column during the period, led by six points from Austin Nichols. Columbus held a 38-33 advantage after a Scott Merritt lay-up with 6:47 to go in the half, but Huntsville responded with a 15-6 run over the next 5:23 to grab a 48-44 edge with a free throw from Rodney Bias at the 1:24 mark. The Riverdragons rediscovered their offense over the final 1:06, however, as Adam Harrington connected for a 12-foot jumper and LeRoy Hurd scored on a lay-in with 18.9 seconds remaining to pull Columbus even at the break, at 48-apiece.

Both offenses were shut down in the third period, as the Flight hit just seven of their 19 shots in the period, while the Dragons connected on eight of 21 field goal attempts in the stanza. Columbus used an 8-0 spurt to take a 62-54 lead with 7:29 left, capped by a Ramel Curry reverse lay-up. Again Huntsville fought its way back in it, closing the quarter on a 13-4 run over the final seven minutes to retake the lead, 67-66 heading into the fourth period. Six different players contributed on offense for the Flight during the run that was capped off by Antoine Pettway's running lay-in with 28.9 seconds on the clock. Barron led the Flight in the period, hitting for nine points, while the Riverdragons received six points from Merritt.

The Dragons took their defense up another notch in the fourth quarter and pulled away from Huntsville down the stretch. Columbus limited the Flight to six of 16 shooting from the floor in the stanza and earned 16 trips to the foul line to pull away. After Barron finished in transition with a lay-up to give Huntsville an 83-82 edge with 3:53 to go, the Dragons found their offense, getting a reverse lay-up from Curry, a pair of free throws from Mike Benton and Harrington, and a Hurd runner to reel off an 8-1 game-ending run and claim the victory.

Columbus finished with six players in double figures, led by a team-high 17 points from Zimmerman. Hurd tallied 14 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench, while Merritt and Curry both hit for 12 points. Benton notched 11 points and Harrington registered 10 points in the victory.

The Flight totaled four players in double figures, led a by a game-high 21 points from Barron. Pettway continued his strong play with 13 points, Miskiri tallied 12, while Henderson had 11 in the loss.

The Riverdragons return to action on the road this Wednesday, April 6, traveling to Asheville for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off with the Altitude at the Asheville Civic Center. Huntsville returns to the Von Braun Center on Tuesday, April 5 to face the Fayetteville Patriots. Tip-off is set for 7:00 CDT. For more information, log onto nbdl.com.



NBA G League Stories from April 2, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central