Men's Basketball Begins Two-Game Road Swing In Florida

By: Erik Simpson, Sports Information Director

Men's Basketball | 2/13/2019 9:17:00 PM

DALTON, Ga. – Dalton State continues the 2018-19 season on the road Thursday evening with a visit to Temple Terrace, Fla. to face Florida College.

Dalton State (Ga.) (16-10, 11-7 SSAC), in its first season under interim head coach Alex Ireland, has won their last three games, including a 20-point come from behind victory against #20 Bethel (Tenn.) (89-84) on February 7. Four regular season games remain for the Roadrunners. They need to close strong and enter the SSAC Tournament with momentum if they are to have a shot at an NAIA Tournament berth. Dalton State currently sits in fourth place in the SSAC standings.

Florida College (12-14, 6-12 SSAC), in its 4^th season under head coach Pat Todd, has lost six of their previous seven contest coming into the matchup on Thursday. All of their previous seven games were on the road. Their last home game was on January 21, a 109-93 win against Brewton-Parker (Ga.). The Falcons are in eighth place in the SSAC standings.

Thursday's game will be streamed live on Vimeo, with live stats provided through Dakstats.

SSAC Standings

School	SSAC	Overall
#5 Stillman (Ala.)	15-3	23-3
#9 William Carey (Miss.)	15-3	19-7
#19 Bethel (Tenn.)	14-4	20-6
Dalton State (Ga.)	11-7	16-10
Faulkner (Ala.)	10-8	17-6
Loyola (La.)	10-8	15-10
Middle Georgia State	9-9	14-9
Florida College	6-12	12-14
Mobile (Ala.)	6-12	9-14
Martin Methodist (Tenn.)	6-12	9-15
Blue Mountain (Miss.)	4-13	10-13
Brewton-Parker (Ga.)	1-16	2-22

IN'S & OUT'S

Florida College Coach Pat Todd brings a career record of 485-174 into the game.
Stefan Nakic-Vojnovic leads the Falcons in points per game with 14.62 and rebounds per game with 6.35
The Falcons are top-5 in the NAIA in seven statistical categories; #2 in Total Assists (512), #2 in Defensive Rebounds per Game (32.615), #2 in Total 3-Pt FG Made (295), #3 in 3-Pt Field Goals Made per Game (11.346), #3 in Total Rebound Offense (1131), #4 in Division I in Assists per Game (19.692), #5 in Total Rebounds per Game (43.500)
The Roadrunners are averaging 37.1 points scored in the first half of ballgames, but turn it around in the second half averaging 42.9 points scored. Defensively, they allow 39.7 points on average in the second half.
DS is 9-2 when leading at the half.
Dalton State is an even .500 on the road this season at 5-5.

SERIES VS. FLORIDA COLLEGE

Second meeting all-time
Dalton State leads all-time series 1-0
Last Meeting: January 10, 2019; Dalton State, 93-84
Dalton State led by 15 at the half (46-31) and survived a 3-Pt barrage from the Falcons in the second half to hold on for the win
A 17-3 first half run from the Roadrunners broke a close game wide open and proved to be the difference in the contest
The Falcons hit 12-of-34 attempts (35.3%) from behind the arc in the game
Roadrunners out-rebounded the Falcons 36-31, holding Florida College 12.5 boards below their season average of 43.5
Sean Cranney led the Roadrunners with 23 points and went 5-for-8 from distance.
DS had a season-low six team turnovers in the game and forced Florida College to commit 15.