Hattiesburg, Miss. – In a game that came down to the wire, the William Carey University Crusaders scored the final five points of Saturday's game to hand the No. 22 Dalton State Roadrunners their third Southern States Athletic Conference loss of the season, 72-68.

Dalton State led 28-23 late in the first half, but William Carey scored the final six points of the half . Donta Pittman made two free throws with four seconds to give the Crusaders the lead 29-28 at intermission.

William Carey outscored Dalton State 9-4 to start the second half and continued to lead 43-34. A 3-point Jordan Bowling shot pulled the Roadrunners to within six at 43-37.

The Crusaders took two more nine point leads before the Roadrunners came back to take the lead at 63-62. William Carey scored five straight to go up, 67-63. Dalton State came back to take the lead 68-67 on a three point shot by Jamaine Burrey. Leo Garrett answered with a three of his own to give the Crusaders a lead, 70-68, with 21 seconds remaining.

The ball was then stolen by William Carey's Dietrick Davis who was fouled and made both shots with less than two seconds left to give his Crusaders the 72-68 win.

Rudy Winters led Dalton State scorers with 17 points, including 10-13 from the free throw line. Jalen Robinson again had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Bowling scored 12 and Jamaine Burrey 10 points. Corey McDonald added nine points and Deshawn Ruffin scored five.

The Roadrunners out rebounded the Crusaders 33-32. Dalton State started out slow at the foul line, but ended up making 14 of 23 thanks to Winters 10-1) and Bowling (2-2).

William Carey's Donta Pittman led all scorers with 23. Leo Garrett added 13. The Crusaders are unbeaten in the 2016 portion of their schedule, improving to 10-8 overall, 5-2 SSAC. With the loss, the defending NAIA National Champions from Dalton State have dropped two of their last three games.

"It was a close game and a very tough battle for both teams all night," said Roadrunner Coach Tony Ingle. "We must learn to finish both halves better than we are doing."

Dalton State (12-5 overall, 4-3 SSAC) will play Monday night at Blue Mountain College (3-13, 1-6) in Blue Mountain, Miss. Tip-off will be at 5:00 p.m.EST (4:00 p.m. CST). Blue Mountain defeated Middle Georgia State, 68-61, Saturday night

NAIA Basketball Scoreboard:

William Carey (Miss.) 72, (22) Dalton State 68
Blue Mountain (Miss.) 68, Middle Georgia State 61
Auburn-Montgomery 71, (17) Mobile (Ala.) 65
Coastal Georgia 61, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 60 (OT)
Bethel (Tn.) 107, Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 86
Faulkner (Ala.) 81, Loyola (La.) 70
(1) Pikeville (Ky.) 81, (21) Campbellsville (Ky.) 67
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 80, (2) Georgetown (Ky.) 77 (OT)
(RV) Cumberlands (Ky.) 78, St. Catharine (Ky.) 58
Reinhardt (Ga.) 103, Bryan (Tenn.) 98
(8) Talladega (Ala.) 62, (14) Xavier (La.) 53
Point (Ga.) 68, Bluefield (Va.) 67
Tennessee Wesleyan 76, Truett-McConnell (Ga.) 46
Florida Memorial 70, Ave Maria (Fla.) 64