Roadrunner Basketball Sweeps Allen University with 73-50 Saturday Win
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Dalton, Ga. – Dalton State's basketball Roadrunners (22-3) jumped out to a 15 point lead and never looked back on their way to a 73-50 win at home over Allen University.
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A homecoming crowd of 1,684 was on hand at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center as DS went on to a 24 point lead (47-23) with 1:17 left in the half. At the break, the Roadrunners were on top, 49-28.
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"The Roadrunners came ready to play and bounce back from our Thursday night performance," said Dalton State coach
Tony Ingle. "We gave our fans a better show worthy of their loyal support. We really wanted to give our Homecoming crowd a victory."
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Dalton started strong after intermission, building two 27-point leads (64-37 at 11:21 and 66-39 at 10:28), but only scored 24 points in the final 20 minutes.
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"This was a very solid performance from our top seven players, but once we started substituting I felt our bench was not as sharp," Ingle said.
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"The lead generated by our starters gave us a look at some players that typically do not get as many minutes," the coach added. "As we face a four game road swing, we are going to need more positive production out of our bench.
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"It was awesome seeing
Sean Tate and
LaDaris Green playing with more intensity on defense," said Ingle. "I felt that got the rest of the team competing."
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Ricky Sears and
Anthony Hilliard each scored 13 Roadrunner points in limited play.
Sean Tate scored nine; Demetrice Jacobs, eight;
Preston Earle, seven; and Tyrel Edwards, six.
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Ladaris Green tallied four points and 10 rebounds in only 14 minutes and 11 seconds of playing time;
Erich Allen had four points and seven rebounds while playing 13:39.
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Desmond Phillips scored three.
Nathan Terry,
Galen Smith, and
Monolito Hamilton each added two points; and
Dylan Smith and Raheem Mosley played but didn't score.
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The Roadrunners out rebounded the Yellow Jackets 58 to 40. Dalton State hit 17-28 from the free throw line (60.7%) to Allen's 10-20 (50%).
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Dalton State shot 54.55% from the field (18-33) in the potent first half, but dropped to 6-34 after the break (12.65%). Fortunately for the Roadrunners, Allen hit on a mere 8 of 44 from the field in the second half. They missed all 10 second-half three-point attempts.Â
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The Yellow Jackets were led by Deangelo Anthony with a game high 23 points and Derrick Mccord with 17.
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Dalton State has some time to prepare for the final five games of the season with four of those on the road.Â
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The Roadrunners travel to Montgomery, Al to play Faulkner University on February 13. They then come back to Marietta to meet Southern Polytechnic University on February 15.
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They pack the Silver Bullet for a trip back to Montgomery to meet Auburn Montgomery on February 20, then finish the road part of the season February 22 in Brunswick against College of Coastal Georgia.
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Senior night marks the lone remaining home game for the birds. They host Tennessee Temple at 7:00 p.m. on February 25.Â
Ricky Sears, Demetrice Jacobs, and Desmond Phillips will play their final game in a Roadrunner uniform.
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NAIA Saturday Action
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#3 Pikeville (KY) tamed Life University (GA), 119-106
#11 Emmanuel (GA) handled Faulkner University, 71-52
Southern Polytechnic University defeated Brewton-Parker, 85-70
Coastal Georgia pounded Southern Wesleyan (SC), 91-72
#5 William Carey (MS) crushed Belhaven University (MS), 90-70
#24 Martin Methodist (TN) downed Spring Hill (Al), 71-67
Bethel (TN) over Loyola (La), 82-74
Byran (TN escaped Reinhardt University (GA), 74-72Â
Mobile (Al.) clipped Blue Mountain (MS), 73-71
Voorhees (SC) got by Fisk (TN), 80-76
Campbellsville (KY) downed Cumberland (TN), 72-59
Point (GA), defeated Truett-McConnell, 65-60
Union (KY) over Tennessee Wesleyan, 88-74