Roanoke Dazzles Florida

ESTERO, Fla., Nov. 26 – Anthony Grundy and Seth Doliboa connected for 22 points apiece as the Roanoke Dazzle earned their second victory of the season with a 99-91 win over the Florida Flame on Saturday night at Germain Arena.

All five starters scored in double figures for Roanoke, which turned in its top defensive effort of the season to turn back Florida and earn a split of the weekend double-header.

Trailing 53-50 at halftime, the Dazzle turned on the defense, limiting Florida to just 14 field goals and 38 points in the second half to pull away for the win.

Down by four points with 9:44 left in the third quarter, Grundy led Roanoke's charge. The veteran point guard out of North Carolina State posted seven points in a 14-2 run over the next 3:50 to give the Dazzle their biggest lead at 66-58. Grundy capped the spurt with a three-pointer and the Flame were forced to play catch-up the rest of the night.

Florida cut the deficit to 73-71 with 11:41 left on a Hiram Fuller three-point play, but Grundy answered again, capping off 6-1 spurt with a trey with 10:03 left that gave Roanoke a seven-point advantage at 79-72.

The Flame got within four points four times within the final nine minutes, but Grundy continued to answer hitting for eight points in the final stanza to stave off any Florida hopes for a victory.

Doliboa responded from a 1-for-12 shooting performance in Friday’s loss to post his season-high point total. The 6-8 second-year forward from Wright State hit eight of his 16 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds to post the double-double.

Isiah Victor and Peter Ramos also registered double-doubles, notching 19 points and 10 rebounds and 11 points and 10 rebounds, respectively.

For the second straight game, the Flame were led by Bracey Wright, whose 27 points were a game and team-high. Dwayne Jones earned a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in his first start, while Josh Gross had another strong outing off the bench with 12 points.