Its double-double guy, forward James Thomas, was picked up by the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. Its leading scorer, guard Matt Carroll, was signed Wednesday morning for the rest of the season by the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. Then, late in the first half Wednesday night, it lost shooting guard Sung-Yoon Bang to an ankle sprain.

No problem, the Roanoke Dazzle said.

Getting the perfect I.V. it needed from forward Isiah Victor, who had a career-high 40 points and 15 rebounds, the short-handed Dazzle stormed back from an eight-point halftime deficit to whip Columbus 90-74 at the Roanoke Civic Center. It was a franchise-record seventh consecutive victory for Roanoke (22-10), which pushed its NBDL lead to 1 1/2 games over Columbus (20-11) and three games over third-place Asheville (19-13).

"We've got a group of guys that refuse to give up and they proved that once again," Dazzle coach Kent Davison said.

Victor, who entered the night as the NBDL's second-leading scorer behind Carroll, did all he could to take up the slack, hitting 15 of 26 field-goal attempts and going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. The 40 points was the second-highest total posted in the league this season, behind only Carroll's 43 on Feb. 9.

"That's the first time I've ever had 40 anywhere," said Victor, a 6-foot-9 former Tennessee standout. "I've got to credit C.A. [Cory Alexander, point guard] because the defense is so focused on him that they kind of forget about me sometimes. And the next thing you know you look up and I'm getting a layup."

Meanwhile, the visitors got little of nothing. Columbus, which led 49-41 at half, was outscored 30-10 in the third quarter and finished with a franchise-low 25 second-half points.

"To win in that fashion says a lot about our team," Victor said. "Today in the shootaround, we giggled and laughed about how the bench is going to be bare and all that. But when step between those lines you've got to play basketball and that's what we did. People would think we have no chance in this situation, but we're rolling and it's going to be hard to stop us."

Alexander, who was 0-for-6 from the floor and scoreless in the first half, finished with 13 points - all in the third quarter - and 10 assists. Reserve forward Seth Doliboa had 14 points. Center Kevin Owens contributed 13 rebounds, while reserve forward Casey Sanders had five blocks.

Garry Hill-Thomas, a 6-4 guard from Nevada, was picked up Wednesday and will accompany the Dazzle to Huntsville for games Friday and Saturday. Bang is expected to miss at least a week with his injury.

COLUMBUS (74)

Rawlings 4-6 4-4 12, Merritt 6-10 0-0 12, Benton 2-3 3-4 7, Curry 3-11 1-1 7, Zimmerman 2-8 0-0 4, Myers 5-13 0-0 10, Rhymer 0-6 0-0 0, Yanke 1-3 0-0 2, Harrington 5-18 0-0 10, Hurd 4-9 0-0 10. Totals 32-87 8-9 74.

ROANOKE (90)

Gay 3-7 0-1 6, Victor 15-26 10-10 40, Owens 2-9 3-5 7, Alexander 4-14 5-5 13, Bang 1-3 1-2 3, Davis 3-8 0-0 6, Doliboa 6-9 2-2 14, Sanders 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 345-77 22-27 90.

Columbus29 20 10 15 - 74

Roanoke27 14 30 19 - 90

Three-point goals-Columbus 2-10 (Hurd 2-5, Myers 0-2, Rawlings 0-1, Zimmerman 0-1, Harrington 0-1), Roanoke 0-4 (Alexander 0-3, Bang 0-1). Rebounds-Columbus 54 (Benton 8), Roanoke 50 (Victor 15). Assists-Columbus 16 (Zimmerman 7), Roanoke 16 (Alexander 10). Total fouls-Columbus 27, Roanoke 18. Fouled out-None. Technical fouls-Roanoke coach Davison, Columbus defensive 3-second. A-1,125."We've got a group of guys that refuse to give up and they proved that once again."

Kent Davison

Dazzle coach