Lowgators Regain Share of NBDL Lead
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 4 -- Galen Young scored 19 points off the bench to lead North Charleston to an 81-71 NBDL victory over Columbus on Friday at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Lowgators improved to 15-8, tied with Mobile for first place in the league. Columbus dropped to 11-9.
North Charleston had an early 24-21 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Columbus battled back by shooting 53.3 percent from the field and holding North Charleston to 41.7 percent, giving the Lowgators a 40-39 halftime lead.
"We came back (in the fourth) and we came to play tonight," said coach Alex English. "Everybody was focused and we got a great effort from everybody. That's good. That's what we want."
At the end of the third quarter, the score was tied at 58-58 with North Charleston shooting 76.5 percent from the free throw line and Columbus shooting 66.7 percent.
"It was a tight game in the fourth quarter," said Columbus coach Jeff Malone. "We had a lot of unforced turnovers and we didn't execute well offensively."
North Charleston made a run in the fourth quarter to take the lead for the rest of the game. Columbus had two crucial turnovers with five minutes left in the game.
"It was really good because guys came out and played hard," said North Charleston's Galen Young. "It's a new year, so guys came in with a new attitude, which showed here tonight. We played together like a team and good things happened."
The Lowgators had four players score 10 points apiece: Sedric Webber, Neil Edwards, Fred House and Tess Whitlock, who dished game-high seven assists.
Gabe Muoneke scored 22 points to lead Columbus, followed by Tremaine Fowlkes and Nate Johnson scoring 15 points apiece.
