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Johnson Leads Riverdragons over Lowgators

February 4, 2003 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga., (Feb. 4) - Nate Johnson, the NBDL's leading scorer since Nov. 21, scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting as the Riverdragons defeated the Lowgators for the fifth straight time this season. Columbus (15-15) built a season-high 26 point lead late in the third quarter on a 17-foot jumper by Johnson. With the victory, the Riverdragons have won six of their last seven home games and return to the .500 mark overall for the first time since December 22. The Riverdragons took an early lead, 7-6, on an acrobatic slam-dunk by Johnson with 6:09 to play in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the evening. Columbus took off on an 11-2 run late in the second quarter and led 48-32 at the half. Winners of three straight overall, the Riverdragons will try to keep the momentum going Thursday and Friday when they face first-place Mobile and fourth-place Huntsville in a set of back-to-back road games. The Riverdragons are a combined 3-10 against the Revelers and the Flight this season. "Tonight is a great win," said Riverdragons head coach Jeff Malone. "It brought us back up to .500 and we're real excited about that. Now we're going to play a team - Mobile - that we've had trouble with. I'm really excited about Thursday's game. It's a huge game. We're playing well and Mobile's playing well. This is going to be a fun game to coach and be a part of." Riverdragons foward Tang Hamilton had 16 points and 10 rebounds to notch his league-high 15th double-double of the season. Hamilton set the NBDL single-season record for double-doubles posting his 14th in Sunday night's 94-90 victory over Fayetteville. Greg Stempin also had 16 points, knocking down 2-of-3 3-point attempts. Stempin, the league leader in 3-point shooting, has hit seven of his last ten shots form beyond the arc. Former Lowator Nate Green added eight assists for Columbus. Sean Daugherty came off the bench to post 12 points and eight rebounds. Tierre Brown led the Lowgators (16-17) with 19 points, hitting a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. Reserve guard Aplha Bangura had 14 points as the only other Lowgator in double-figures. N .Charleston entered tonight's game as the league leader in scoring, avearging 90.1 ppg. The Lowgators completed their season-high 10-game road trip 4-6.. N. Charleston has not played at home since January 11. Lowgators head coach Doug Marty, however, is not looking for excuses. "The road trip wasn't really a factor tonight, said Marty. "We have to learn how to play better on the road. This trip was a good way for us to learn those things."

The Lowgators will get their first taste of home cooking in almost a month when they host the Roanoke Dazzle this Friday at the N. Charleston Coliseum.



NBA G League Stories from February 4, 2003


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