Dalton State College Athletics

Roadrunners Survive Overtime, 89-87


The Dalton State basketball Roadrunners (13-1) held-off a hot Concordia (10-10) team, winning in overtime 89-87 Friday night at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center.

The Roadrunners built a 16-point lead (50-34) at the end of the first half, but the visiting Hornets never gave up. A three point shot by Harry Cross tied the game at 55 with less than eight minutes into the second half and CC took the lead on a two point shot in the paint by Tavin Cummings.

Anthony Hilliard then gave DS the lead again (58-57) with a three point shot with 11:03 remaining. The score continued back and forth with the Hornets taking a four-point lead, their largest of the night (77-73), with five minutes remaining.

The Roadrunners eventually came back to tie the game at 78. Concordia went to 80-78 on a couple of Kendrick Atwood free throws with 26 ticks on the clock.

Coach Tony Ingle called a time-out to set-up a play. Sean Tate found Erick Allen in the paint for the 80-80 tie with only 17 seconds. Concordia played for the last shot, which Bryan Rollins missed from the foul line at the buzzer went off.

Atwood and Cummings hit a couple of two-point shots to start the five-minute overtime to give the team from Selma, AL. an 84-80 lead. Ricky Sears pulled Dalton to within one with a three. The game was eventually tied at 85 before Demetrice Jacobs hit a three for the Roadrunners.

Cross hit a couple of free throws to pull Concordia to within one at the 1:09 mark. Allen hit a DS foul shot with 36 seconds in overtime for the final 89-87 score.

Dalton's Preston Earle had 26 points and 11 rebounds. Demetrice Jacobs scored 23 and pulled down four boards. Ricky Sears scored 15 with nine assists. Sean Tate tallied eight points and seven assists.

The Roadrunners were out rebounded 53 to 44, but they had 24 points in the paint and 16 points off of turnovers. The Hornets had an amazing 66.7% from outside the arch (10 of 15).

"I'm very proud of how well the team competed throughout the entire game," Ingle said. "We beat one of the best teams Concordia has had for quite some time."

"Erick Allen hit a big shot tonight and some big time foul shots.," said Ingle. "That was impressive in only his second game back."

"Concordia is the best three-point shooting team we have faced all year and we knew that going in. It was impressive how they continued to score in the second half."

The Hornets' Cummings finished with 23 points including four of six from three-point range. Rollins scored 15 including three of six from three. Jerry Sturdivant had 14 (4-5 from three) and Adwood added a dozen.





Saturday action in the Carpet City Christmas Classic will feature Concordia and Cumberland University at 6:00 p.m., followed by Dalton State and Belhaven at around 8:00 p.m.