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Dragons Finish Regular Season On Winning Note

April 9, 2005 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga.— Reed Rawlings scored a game-high and season-high 27 points and the Columbus Riverdragons ended the regular season with a convincing 110-82 win over the Roanoke Dazzle on Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center. With the victory, the Riverdragons earned their league-best 30th win to finish the regular season with a 30-18 overall record. The Dazzle ended the regular season on a three-game losing skid, finishing 26-22 overall.

Columbus and Roanoke will face each other in a rematch, next Saturday, April 16th right back at Columbus Civic Center in the semi-final round of the 2005 NBDL Postseason Tournament presented by Delta Air Lines. Asheville's 96-94 win over Huntsville on Saturday night combined with the Dazzle's loss, gives Roanoke the #4 seed, while Asheville earns the #2 seed and will host the #3 seed, Huntsville, next Saturday night at the Asheville Civic Center. Both games tip-off at 7:00 p.m..

Both clubs entered Saturday's contest shorthanded, as the Riverdragons played with only eight healthy players due to injuries to Scott Merritt and Adam Harrington, while Roanoke competed with only seven players due to injuries to Miah Davis and Gary Hill-Thomas, and Saturday's Gatorade NBA Call-up for James Thomas to the Atlanta Hawks.

Columbus jumped all over the Dazzle out of the gate in the first quarter. An energized Dragons club, fresh off of their victory over Fayetteville on Thursday that clinched the regular season crown, opened the contest hitting seven of their first eight shots to take an 18-6 lead with 5:32 left in the period on a Rawlings 18-foot jumper. Roanoke got back in it by closing the quarter on a 17-12 spurt, as Isiah Victor and Seth Doliboa combined for ten points in the run to help close the gap to seven points, 30-23, at the end of the period. The Dragons sizzled offensively, hitting 62.5 percent of their shots (15-24 FG) in the opening stanza as Rawlings tallied 10 points to lead all scorers.

The Dazzle showed signs of life to start the second period, scoring the first three points and cutting the Columbus advantage to just four, 30-26, following a Kevin Owens short jumper with 11:04 left. But the Riverdragons took control from then on, running off an 18-4 spurt over the next 6:32 to claim an 18-point lead, at 48-30 with 4:32 left on a Ramel Curry lay-in. A Casey Sanders dunk with 40.9 seconds remaining in the half brought the Dazzle within 14 points, 56-42, at halftime. Columbus continued its torrid shooting in the second quarter, hitting 12 of its 21 shots in the stanza, while Roanoke went ice cold, hitting on just seven of its 24 field goal attempts. Curry and Sanders led their respective clubs in the period with six points apiece.

Antoine Landry, starting in place of Davis at point guard, did his best to bring the Dazzle back in the third quarter, hitting for ten points. But the Rawlings answered with 11 points of his own for the Riverdragons, as Columbus outscored Roanoke 29-28 in the third to boost the advantage to 15 points, at 85-70, heading into the fourth period. The Dragons put the game out of reach and extended their lead to as many as 22 points twice in the fourth quarter, getting free throws from Randy Orr and a driving lay-in from Ben Adams with 3:33 to go that upped the Columbus lead to 103-81.

The Riverdragons finished with four players in double figures. Along with Rawlings's team-high and season-high total, LeRoy Hurd posted 21 points off the bench, while Curry and Adams notched 14 points apiece. Orr finished with 15 rebounds in the victory for Columbus. Roanoke also posted four players in double figures. Victor registered his second-straight and ninth double-double overall with a game-high 31 points along with 11 rebounds. Doliboa recorded 17 points against his former team, while Sung-Yoon Bang and Landry finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.

Tip-off for Saturday's semi-final match-up between the Riverdragons and the Dazzle is 7:00 p.m. at the Columbus Civic Center. For more information about the 2005 NBDL Postseason Tournament presented by Delta Air Lines, log onto nbdl.com.



NBA G League Stories from April 9, 2005


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