Box Score

Montgomery, AL- despite holding the lead most of the second half of Friday night's SSAC semi-final tilt in Montgomery, a late rally by William Carey helped them up-end the Roadrunners 66-62.  With the loss, Dalton State falls to 26-4 on the season with two losses coming to William Carey.  Although this loss marks the end of the SSAC tourney for the Roadrunners, it does not mark the end of the season. The Roadrunners advance to the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City on the strength of their regular season conference championship.  Brackets for the tournament will be revealed March 11.

Although the Roadrunners were sharp most of the game, late turnovers and offensive rebounds turned out to be the difference in the final score.  A late runner by Sean Tate was just short and a wild scramble for the rebound lead to a breakaway basket which sealed the Carey win.  William Carey outscored the Roadrunners 46 to 14 in the paint and out rebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the country 34 to 33.  Dalton State, a team which is usually solid with the ball, had three of their game total 12 turnovers in the last three minutes of the contest.

For the Roadrunners, Preston Earle came off the bench to lead the way with 19 points. He was followed by Jordan Bowling with 18 and Jamaine Burrey with 16. The rest of the team combined for nine points on 2-16 shooting from the field.  Dalton shot 24% in the second half against a pesky William Carey zone which seemed to take the Roadrunners out of a solid first half groove where they were seven of 16 from the three.  The Roadrunners were two of 14 from the three in the second half.

"After the game, everyone on the team was taking responsibility for things they could have done or different decisions they could have made that might have changed the outcome, including me," said Coach Tony Ingle.  "At the end of the day, I think we were emotionally and physically exhausted and I give William Carey a lot of credit.  We have a little break to get our batteries recharged to go and put on a great showing in Kansas City. The team is excited that this amazing season is far from over," added Ingle.

While the loss is disappointing, it does not take away from a tremendous SSAC season. The Roadrunners will first play in Kansas City on either the 18th or 19th of March with a chance to become NAIA national champions.