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Lowgators Sweep Riverdragons, Take Over Top Spot

January 6, 2004 - NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


The Charleston Lowgators held on to win over the Riverdragons Tuesday night at the Columbus Civic Center, sweeping their three-game, four-day series with a 97-92 win. More importantly, Charleston (11-5) forged its way into first place in the NBDL standings, taking a half-game lead over the Huntsville Flight for the top spot. The Lowgators were led by Carl English, who posted 22 points. Erron Maxey led the Riverdragons with a career-high 26 points. The Riverdragons (3-13) were able to come within 4 points with only 32 seconds in the game, despite a 17-point deficit as late at 7:31 remaining.

Erron Maxey got the Columbus offense started early tallying nine points in the period on 4-6 shooting. The Riverdragons finished the first quarter strong, going on a 7-4 run in the last three minutes of the period to finish leading 26-21.

Columbus opened the second period with a 16-8 run, to up their advantage over the Lowgators to 44-31 with three minutes remaining. But Charleston answered with a 15-2 run, led by Carl English, who put in two consecutive treys. Bangura added an exclamation point with a three-point shot of his own to tie the Riverdragons 46-46 going into the half.

Led by a 7-2 spurt to open the third quarter, the Lowgators held the lead for most of the period, capitalizing on the Riverdragons' six turnovers which led to nine points for Charleston. Ime Udoka led a balanced Lowgators offense which outscored the Riverdragons 29-22. Jeff Myers and Courtney James combined for 13 in the third quarter for Columbus. The lead ballooned to as much as ten for the Gators, but Myers scored six points over the final 3:55 of the period, including a driving layup with 9.9 seconds left to bring the Dragons within seven at 75-68.

Charleston looked to put the game away early in the fourth period, as three Columbus turnovers and the hot shooting of English extended the Lowgators lead to as many as 16 points. English tallied nine points over a four minute span, including two treys, that gave the Gators a commanding 94-79 advantage with 5:18 left. But, the Dragons weren't finished. A Terence Morris three-ball got things started for Columbus with 5:18 remaining. Derrick Bird then followed with a pair of free throws at the 2:45 mark, a layup with 2:07, and a layup and foul with 1:48 to go to cap 7-0 run, bringing the Riverdragons within three at 94-91. Charleston's Tierre Brown put a halt to any hopes of a Columbus comeback, as the two-year NBDL and NBA veteran knocked down a baseline 18-foot jumper over a double-team with 32.9 ticks remaining to put it out of reach. Alpha Bangura's two free throws with 3.1 seconds left gave the Lowgators the final margin.

Columbus returns to action this Friday, January 9 against the Roanoke Dazzle at the Columbus Civic Center at 7 p.m.. It will be the River Rage Dance Poster Giveaway sponsored by Colony Furniture. Charleston continues its road trip Friday in battle with second place Huntsville at the Von Braun Center.

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