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Florida stages second straight comeback but falls short in final minutes.

February 5, 2005 - NBA G League (G League)
Florida Flame News Release


FORT MYERS, Fla. - What looked like a replay of Wednesday's 19 point Flame comeback to force overtime fell short in the final minutes as the Columbus Riverdragons posted a 82-78 victory over the Florida Flame in front of 1,998 fans at Germain Arena. Reed Rawlings paced the way for Columbus, scoring 19 points including 12 in the first quarter in the win for the Riverdragons. Hiram Fuller led the way for the Flame, achieving his thirteenth double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The game played out much like the same as on Wednesday night. In the game two days ago, Florida erased a nineteen point Columbus lead to force the extra period and looked poised to do the same again on Friday.

In tonight's game, Columbus pushed their lead to 20 on a Leroy Hurd lay-up with 6:43 to play in the second quarter and rolled to a 49-35 halftime lead.

Florida would not go down without a fight as they used the second half to mount their comeback. The Flame used a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter and cut the lead to eight at the end of the period.

In the fourth quarter, the Flame pulled to within three points multiple times but could get no closer. Both teams struggled in the period connecting on only ten shots combined but it was Columbus who pulled out the narrow victory.

Ramel Curry scored 18 points coming off the bench for the Riverdragons while Mike Benton added 10.

Marcus Moore scored a career high 17 points and Kirk Haston added 13 for the Flame.

The two teams will face each other again tomorrow night to conclude the final game of the three-game series at Germain Arena. Tip for tomorrows game is set for 7:30 p.m.

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