Riverdragons Upend Flight In Overtime Tuesday Night 92-89

Published on February 25, 2003 under NBA G League (G League)
Columbus Riverdragons News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. (Feb. 25, 2003) – Nate Green wanted to avoid being swept at home this season by the Huntsville Flight. The Riverdragons guard made sure it did not happen Tuesday night at the Columbus Civic Center.

Green hit a 30-foot jumper with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and then added another 3-pointer and a pair of crucial free throws in overtime to lift Columbus to a 92-89 NBDL victory over the Flight.

"They were playing a zone, so I couldn't just say ‘go to Nate Johnson or go to Tang (Hamilton)," Riverdragons coach Jeff Malone said about Green's shot that sent the game into overtime. "I said ‘somebody's got to make a play for us' and that somebody was Nate Green."

With the win, the Riverdragons (17-22) snapped a four-game losing streak as they beat the Flight for the first time at home this season in five tries.

After Green hit the tying basket in regulation to tie the game at 84-all, the Riverdragons scored the first four points of overtime as Johnson hit one free throw followed by Green's 3-pointer to push the advantage to four at 88-84. The Flight answered with two free throws from A.J. Guyton before Greg Stempin pushed the margin back to four with a bucket at the 2:20 mark.

Flight newcomer Ike Nwankwo then added a pair of free throws to cut the gap at 90-88 and Lonnie Harrell, who ended the game with his career-best 33 points, made just one of two free throws with 32.8 left as the Flight still trailed by a point. The Riverdragons missed on the ensuing possession but Guyton's pass up the floor to Bakari Hendrix was out of reach and went out-of-bounds with 1.8 seconds left in overtime.

Green then was fouled and he added his clutch insurance foul shots. After a timeout, Harrell had a chance to send the game into a second extra period for the Flight but his shot was just off the mark.

"That's our first overtime win, and we needed it," Malone added, whose team also converted 33-of-48 free throws in the contest compared to the Flight's 25-of-31. "I don't know how many free throws we missed. We put ourselves in situations where we make it tight, but we finally got one so that's a good thing for us."

Columbus got a pair of 23-point efforts from Johnson and Hamilton, while Tyrone Washington finished with 14 and Green 10. For Hamilton it was his NBDL-best 21st double-double as he added a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Flight (17-23) tied its franchise mark for consecutive losses with seven as they had three players score in double figures. Along with Harrell's 33 points, which is the highest a Flight player has accumulated this season, Guyton added 14 and Jermaine Walker tallied 10.

"We have to find a way to fight through adversity," Flight coach Ralph Lewis said. "I thought we played a pretty good basketball game. Nate Green had to make a tough shot to put in overtime, which he did. We made some plays where we had the opportunity to put the game away, but we just had breakdowns."

For Columbus it was its first victory in six tries in overtime this year, while the Flight dropped their third OT game in three tries.

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NBA G League Stories from February 25, 2003


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