Box Score  
 



Kansas City, MO – The No. 6 Dalton State Basketball Roadrunners (28-4) advanced to the next round of the NAIA  Division I National Tournament Wednesday with a win over Wiley College, 97-86. The Marshall (TX) school ended their season 21-12.
 
Dalton State is in the first year of eligibility and will advance to play Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. EDT (9:00 in Kansas City) against Evangel University (MO). Evangel held off No. 11 seed Wayland Baptist, 67-66.
 
The SSAC regular season champion Roadrunners built a 13-point lead at intermission, 47-34.
 
Dalton State had used runs of 7—0 and 6-0 midway through the first half to claim a 27-15 lead with 8:33 remaining in the half.
 
Wiley scored nine of the 12 second half points to closed to within seven points.  The Roadrunners continued to expand the lead up to 18 points in the second half only to have the Wildcats comeback to pull to within 10. 
 
Five Dalton State players hit double figures with Jordan Bowling leading the way. He had a game high 32 points,  a game high 17 rebounds and a team leading five assists. Preston Earle scored 22 points and had six rebounds. Ladaris Green had 10 points and 16 rebounds. Sean Tate and Jamaine Burrey each scored 12 and Anthony Hilliard added eight. The Roadrunners out rebounded the Wildcats, 60 to 48.
 
"Our team was excited to play in the national tournament and once we settled down we were able to play team basketball," said Coach Tony Ingle. "All in all we thought our defense and rebounding were pretty solid."
 
The nation's leading scorer didn't disappoint for Wiley College. Phillip Miller scored 27 points and added six rebounds. Miller is also the NAIA's second hottest free throw shooter, but only connected on 1/3 from the charity line.
 
Note: The Roadrunners were the second-straight team from Georgia to win the opening game. Emmanuel did so last year. Green entered the game as the nation's leading rebounder and reached double digits before half-time.

WDNN-TV 10 will again carry the Friday game live.
 

 

Also Wednesday, Arizona Christian came from 18 points back to upset No. 14 seed Georgetown (KY), 94-82, and No. 3 seed Cal State San Marcos held-off Philander Smith (Ark.), 85-79. Arizona Christian and Cal State San Marcos square-off at around 10:45 a.m. Friday.

Martin Methodist (TN), the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Champions, broke open a close game in the second half and went on to handle SAGU - Texas late Wednesday night, 74-56. That game didn't start until around 11:30 pm. CDT. The No. 8 Redhawks will face The University of the Cumberlands (KY) Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Patriots advanced Wednesday with a 55-47 win over LSU Alexandria.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics D-1 Tournament is being held in the 9,500 seat Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. It is part of the city's massive convention center complex and near the Gaslight District for restaurants and entertainment.