Dalton State basketball (12-4 overall, 4-2 SSAC) was upset by Bethel University (10-6 overall, 3-3 SSAC) Saturday at Mashburn Arena, 91-89. The loss snapped a 12-game Dalton State home win streak dating back to last season when the Wildcats defeated the Birds at Homecoming.

Saturday was a day that saw big runs by each team, particularly after intermission. Reed Dungan hit a basket at the buzzer to give the 8th ranked Roadrunners a one point lead at the break, 40-39. 

Dalton State went ahead 42-41 after the intermission, but Bethel had a 15-point run to go up 56-42. The Roadrunners came back to take an 83-80 lead on two Rudy Winters foul shots with 28.7 seconds left in regulation.

"We full court pressed them," said Dalton Coach Tony Ingle. "We ran four different full court presses. We kept them off balance, kept them on their heals. It gave us some momentum. I thought we scored the ball pretty good, we rebounded it well. We did everything well enough to win the game except foul shots."

Bethel's Darren Davidson scored on a shot in the paint to pull the Wildcats to within one (83-82) with 11.8 seconds remaining. The visitors had to foul Winters with 10.4 seconds remaining. He made one of two foul shots for an 84-82 DS lead. Bethel's Nelson Cole tied the game at 84 with 5.6 seconds left in regulation.

Dalton State scored the first three points of overtime on free throw shots by Winters. Bethel came back to take a lead at 89-87 with 1:41 left. The Roadrunner tied the score at 89 on a bucket by Winters with 20 seconds left.  The Wildcats scored what turned out to be the winning basket with just enough time for Dalton State to have a quick shot at the buzzer that rimmed out.

Dalton State out rebounded Bethel in the game 53-52.  The Wildcats had been out rebounding their opponents by better than eight boards a game. The usually good free throw shooting Roadrunners only hit 20-38 (52.6%) in the loss compared to the Wildcats' 19-30 (63.3%).

Coach Ingle said free throw shooting suffered with so much time on the road during the holidays.. "It's my fault," Ingle said. "We've had limited practice on the road. It caught up with us. We've got some guys who can shoot good foul shots. They are pretty upset about that right now."

Winters led Dalton State scorers with 23 points. Hawkins scored 17, Jalen Robinson had a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, Deshawn Ruffin and Dungan each added nine points, and Jordan Bowling scored 8 points. 

Bethel's Scott Justice tallied 17 points, Andrew Rogan, 14, Eddie Green 12, and Davidson 10.

The next Dalton State basketball game will be on Saturday, Jan. 16, at William Carey in Hattiesburg, Ms. The game will tipoff a 4:00 p.m. CST.

NAIA Scoreboard

Bethel 91, (8) Dalton State 89
William Carey (Ms.) 69, Faulkner (Al.) 60
Middle Georgia State 78, Martin Methodist (Tn.) 68
(RV) Mobile 66, Brewton-Parker 63
Loyola (La.) 88, Coastal Georgia 84 (OT)
Auburn Montgomery 70, Blue Mountain (Ms.) 58
Life (Ga.) 82, St. Catharine (Ky.) 78
Cumberlands (Ky.) 71, (15) Lindsey Wilson 56
(2) Pikeville (Ky.) 86, Cumberland (Tn.) 78
(1) Georgetown (Ky.) 120, Ohio State – Man 72
Talladega (Al.) 96, Tougaloo (Ms.) 65
Johnson & Wale (Fl.) 81, Ave Maria (Fl.) 77
Truett-McConnell 78, Reinhardt (Ga.) 71
Tennessee Wesleyan 99, St. Andrews (NC) 90
Keiser University (Fl.) 77, Thomas (Ga.) 64
Point (Ga.) 84, Milligan (Tn.) 72
Bryan (Tn.) 101, Montreat (NC) 80

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