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Dragons Outrun Patriots, 123-108

March 29, 2004 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga.—The Columbus Riverdragons kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a record setting 123-108 victory over the Fayetteville Patriots on Monday night at the Columbus Civic Center. The Riverdragons set team single-game records for scoring (123), field goals (45), and points in a quarter (41) in defeating the Patriots for the fourth consecutive time head-to-head. Six players scored in double figures for Columbus, while three tallied double-doubles.

Columbus (17-25) outscored Fayetteville 31-4 in fast break points on the way to their fourth win in the last five and seventh in their last eleven overall. Columbus now trails fourth place Roanoke (20-21) for the final playoff spot by 3.5 games with four to play. The Dragons host the Dazzle on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center. With the loss, the Patriots (18-23) dropped their third straight decision and sixth in the last seven overall to fall two games behind fourth-place Roanoke in the NBDL standings.

Erron Maxey got the Dragons going early, scoring12 first quarter points as Columbus raced out to a 21-19 lead after one period. Ernest Brown kept Fayetteville close, posting seven points on 3-6 shooting from the floor.

The Riverdragons began to pull away in the second quarter. Up by four, at 38-34 with 6:23 remaining in the half, Jeff Myers led the Dragons with ten points in a 16-9 run over the next 5:50 to give Columbus a double digit advantage, 54-43 with 39.9 seconds to go. Junie Sanders hit two free throws with 24.3 seconds left to pull the Patriots within nine at the break, 54-45.

Fayetteville would make its final run in the third period after watching the Riverdragons go up by double digits four times over the first six and a half minutes of the quarter. Following a Sedric Webber lay-in that upped the Columbus advantage to ten, at 66-56 with 5:32 remaining, Bryan Lucas and Cedric Henderson combined for nine points in a Patriots 10-2 run that brought Fayetteville within a basket at 68-66.

But the Dragons turned on their transition game again over the final 2:20 of the period to retake control. Myers, Webber, and Terence Morris all tallied lay-ups on a 14-3 spurt to boost the Riverdragons advantage up to a game-high 13 points, at 82-69 heading into the fourth quarter

In what looked like a track meet in the fourth quarter, both teams combined to score 80 points. Kenny Satterfield tried to keep Fayetteville in it, posting 21 points in the stanza, but the Patriots could only get as close as eight points, trailing 106-98 with 1:50 to play following a Kent Williams three-pointer. For Columbus it was a parade to the foul line in the fourth quarter, as the Dragons hit 17 of 20 free throws to pull away for the victory.

Webber led Columbus in scoring for the fifth time in the last seven games, posting a game-high 27 points on 12-20 shooting from the field. Zimmerman tallied season highs in both points (20) and assists (13) on his way to a double-double while Morris notched his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Myers continued his strong play in the month of March with a double-double of his own, notching 19 points and ten assists.

Satterfield posted a team-high 25 points for Fayetteville in the loss. Lucas posted his league-leading sixteenth double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The Riverdragons return to action this Friday, April 2 against the Roanoke Dazzle at the Columbus Civic Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.. Fayetteville continues its three-game road swing at Huntsville tomorrow night with tip-off set for 8:05 p.m. EST at the Von Braun Center. For more information log onto nbdl.com.

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