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Lowgators Burn Dragons Again, 84-65

January 4, 2004 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


Following a twenty-three point victory Saturday afternoon in South Carolina, the Charleston Lowgators continued their dominance over the Columbus Riverdragons on Sunday, using a 13-0 run to open the second half to pull away for easy victory, 84-65, at the Columbus Civic Center. Rolan Roberts led all scorers with a game-high 20 points for the Lowgators. The Dragons were led by Tai Crutchfield who posted 13 points. After the loss, Columbus dropped to and NBDL low 3-12. Charleston edged closer to the first place Huntsville Flight, improving their season record to 10-5.

Held scoreless over the first four minutes of the opening quarter, the Lowgators turned to Rolan Roberts to jumpstart their offense, as the second-year minor leaguer out of Southern Illinois scored six points in an 18-8 run that gave Charleston an 18-14 advantage with 1:37 left in the period. Roberts ten-foot jumper with 47.9 seconds left in the period provided Charleston with a 21-19 edge at the end of one quarter.

Derrick Bird's seventeen-foot jumper capped off an 8-3 run to open the second quarter for Columbus, giving the Dragons a 27-24 lead with 9:48 remaining in the half.

Carl English got Charleston going again, hitting his first three of the game to tie it and the Lowgators began a 9-3 spurt to take a 33-30 lead with 3:36 left. The Dragons managed only one field goal and committed three turnovers over the final three minutes, while the Lowgators got baskets from Alpha Bangura, Karim Shabazz, Tierre Brown, and Roberts to up the advantage to 41-35 at the break.

Charleston began to pull away early in the third quarter as Bangura and Ime Udoka combined for nine points in a 13-0 run to begin the second half, upping the Lowgators lead to eighteen, 54-36 with 5:42 to go in the period. The lead would build to 22 on a Chuck Eidson three-pointer at the 3:19 mark, but Columbus would end the stanza on an 11-2 run, as J. Locklier and Marc Mazur combined for eight points in the spurt to bring the Dragons within 14 at the end of the third quarter, 64-50.

Columbus, with an 8-3 spurt to open the final period, pulled within nine, 67-58, with 6:48 to play on a Derrick Bird layup. But that's as close as the Dragons would get as the Lowgators answered again, getting to the basket with ease on six layups over the final 5:50 to cap off the contest with a 17-7 run.

Both teams return to the floor on Tuesday, January 6 at the Columbus Civic Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. as the Dragons and Gators square off for the third time in four days.



NBA G League Stories from January 4, 2004


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