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Flight Too Much For Riverdragons

January 28, 2005 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga.— Earl Barron and Damone Brown posted double-doubles and the Huntsville Flight overpowered the punchless Columbus Riverdragons, 93-76, on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center. Barron posted a game-high 23 points along with 10 rebounds for his first double-double, while Brown notched his fifth double-double with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, leading the Flight (15-10) to their second straight victory and third in the last four games.

The win pulled Huntsville within a game of the Riverdragons (15-8) in the NBDL standings and ran the FlightÂ’s head-to-head record versus Columbus to 4-1 on the season. The Dragons have now lost seven of their past eight games and four in a row at home.

Brown got Huntsville going in the first quarter, scoring 10 points and garnering 4 rebounds, as the Flight took an early six-point lead after one period, 26-20. Columbus struggled again on offense in the first quarter, shooting just 9-25 from the floor (36%). Mike Benton had eight points, three rebounds, and two blocks to keep the Dragons in it.

Columbus shot 52.6% from the field (10-19) and held the Flight to 5-20 from the floor in the second quarter, but the Dragons were called for 10 fouls in the period sending Huntsville to the free throw line 17 times in the quarter. The Flight hit 15 of their 17 attempts to keep pace with Columbus and maintain a six point advantage at the break. Bernard King came alive with 10 points and four rebounds to pace the Flight, while Scott Merritt posted 10 points and three rebounds in the stanza as Huntsville led 51-45 at halftime.

A Merritt dunk with 10:33 to play in the third quarter brought the Dragons within four points at 51-47, but the Flight answered with 10-2 run over the next 4:25 that pushed the Huntsville lead to a game-high 12 points, at 63-51 with 6:08 to go in the period. King and Jason Miskiri combined for eight points in the run and Columbus hit one of five field goals during the stretch. The Riverdragons closed the gap to seven points at the end of the third, 69-62, as Reed Rawlings and Benton hit for a three-pointer and lay-up, respectively to pull Columbus within single digits.

The Riverdragons got as close as eight points in the fourth period, but poor shooting down the stretch doomed Columbus. The Dragons hit just six of 17 shots in the quarter and Barron tallied nine points in the period to put the game out of reach. The Flight hit 10 of their 19 shots in the fourth to pull away for the win.

Huntsville had four players in double figures. Along with BarronÂ’s 23 and BrownÂ’s 20 points, the Flight received 20 points from King and 10 from Miskiri in the victory. The Riverdragons had a total of four players in double figures. Rawlings broke out of a two-game slump with a team-high 19 points, while Merritt added 18 in the loss. Derrick Zimmerman notched 15 points and Benton ended the night with 12 points for Columbus.

The Riverdragons return to action on the road next Wednesday, February 2, as they travel to take on the Florida Flame at the Germain Arena. The game will be the first of three straight contests between the two teams in Fort Myers. Tip-off for all three games is 7:30 p.m.. The Flight will return to action next week, on Friday, February 4 as they host the Asheville Altitude at the Von Braun Center. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m.. For more information, log onto nbdl.com.

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NBA G League Stories from January 28, 2005


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