Dragons Offense Too Much For Altitude, 111-103

Published on March 16, 2005 under NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga.— Six Riverdragons scored in double figures and Columbus earned its third straight victory with a 111-103 win over the Asheville Altitude on Wednesday night at the Columbus Civic Center. The Dragons scored over 100 points for the fourth straight game to give Head Coach Jeff Malone a victory in his return to the team following a back injury that forced him to miss the last six contests.

Ramel Curry tallied a team-high 21 points and Columbus (25-13) moved a full game ahead of the Roanoke Dazzle (24-14) for first place in the NBDL standings with 10 games left in the regular season. With the win, Columbus assured itself of its first winning campaign since the inaugural 2001-02 NBDL season. The Riverdragons shot over 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time in the last five games (53.4%) and used a first-half-ending 33-15 run to gain control.

Asheville (21-16) had its two-game winning streak snapped, fell three-and-a-half games behind Columbus for first place, and dropped two-and-a-half games behind Roanoke for second place in the NBDL rankings. Ron Slay continued his strong play with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds for the Altitude.

The Dragons opened up a 24-19 lead after one quarter led by Curry, who tallied nine first quarter points for Columbus. Tony Kitchings and Kirk Penney both had six in the period to pace Asheville.

The Altitude made their strongest surge of the night at the start of the second quarter. Joe Forte hit three jumpers and Tony Dobbins scored a lay-in to propel Asheville to an 8-0 spurt over the first 3:13 of the period, giving Joey Meyer's club a 27-24 lead with 8:47 left in the first half. But the Riverdragons responded after bringing three starters back into the ballgame following a timeout. Reserve Randy Orr also led the charge, scoring 10 points and tallying 3 blocks as Columbus reeled off a quarter-ending 33-15 spurt that gave the Riverdragons a 15-point cushion at the break. The Dragons hit 68% of their shots (13-19) in the period and hit all seven of their free throw attempts to grab a 57-42 lead at halftime.

A Lenny Stokes dunk with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter brought Asheville within nine, 67-58, but a Curry lay-in, Orr jumper, and a Mike Benton slam pushed the lead back to 14, at 73-59 with 5:02 to go in the period. Columbus would head to fourth quarter up by a dozen, claiming a 77-65 advantage after three. Curry would finish with eight points in the stanza.

The two teams combined for 72 points in the fourth quarter and Asheville could only get as close as eight points down the stretch. Columbus shot 68 percent (15-22) from the floor while the Altitude hit 61% percent (11-18) from the field in the final period. Slay tried to keep Asheville in it scoring 11 fourth-quarter points, while Merritt notched nine in the period for the Riverdragons.

Along with Curry's 21 points, Orr tallied a season-high 20 points along with five blocks coming off the bench. Merritt scored 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds, Adam Harrington notched 15 points in a reserve role, Reed Rawlings hit for 14 points, and Derrick Zimmerman registered his second double-double with 10 points and 12 assists for Columbus.

The Altitude finished with four players in double figures. Along with Slay's game-high total, Penney registered 20 points, Terrence Shannon posted 14, and Tony Kitchings added 10 in the loss for Asheville.

The Riverdragons return to action this Friday, March 18, as they host the Huntsville Flight at the Columbus Civic Center. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m.. The Dragons will also be hosting "NASCAR Night" sponsored by Nextel, Knology, Marathon, and SunTrust. All fans in attendance will be able to take their photo with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s #8 Budweiser Monte Carlo race car. Plus, fans will have a chance to win tickets to the Golden Corral 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and a free tank of gas courtesy of Marathon service stations. For ticket information, visit the Columbus Civic Center box office, any Ticketmaster outlet at Publix Supermarkets, or call 1-800-4-NBA-TIX. All fans who wear NASCAR gear to the Civic Center box office prior to the game will receive 50 percent off a $14 ticket to Friday night's game.

Asheville will continue its three-game road trip on Friday, visiting the first-place Florida Flame at the Germain Arena at 7:30 p.m.. For more information, log onto nbdl.com.

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NBA G League Stories from March 16, 2005


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