Dalton State closes regular season with loss, receives No. 6 seed in conference tournament

Published 2:00 pm Monday, February 26, 2024

Dalton State College wrapped the 2023-24 regular season with an 82-66 loss to Life in Marietta on Saturday, but the Roadrunners will get another shot at the team soon.

The conclusion of the regular season means that the Southern States Athletic Conference field is set. Dalton State which finishes the season at 15-12 and 11-9 in SSAC play, receives the sixth seed in a 10-team tournament for a 13-team league.

Dalton State will be matched up with third-seeded Life (20-8, 14-6 SSAC) in the quarterfinal round of the SSAC tournament on Thursday at 11:45 a.m. in Montgomery, Alabama. Should the Roadrunners win, they’d advance to the semifinals of the conference tourney on Friday at 4 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday night at 7:30. The Roadrunners likely need to battle through for a conference tournament win to have a shot at a bid in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The SSAC tournament champion receives an automatic bid.

Dalton State’s 82-66 loss at Life on Saturday sends the Roadrunners into the postseason on a two-game skid. when the Roadrunners played Life at home in December, the Running Eagles escaped with a 77-76 win over Dalton State.

On Saturday, Life jumped out to a double-digit lead midway through the first half. Dalton State whittled it down to two —38-36— by halftime, and a Donavan Miller basket early in the second half tied the game at 38.

The Roadrunners were able to keep pace with Life for a few minutes, but never took the lead. Then, an 18-4 run by the Running Eagles helped them run away from the Roadrunners.

Matt Compas led the Roadrunners with 14 points. Carterius Evans had 13 points and six rebounds, and Allon Johnson had 11 and eight. Miller scored nine.

Dalton State played a pretty clean game, turning the ball over just six times. Life won the rebounding battle 40-32.

Will Freeman led a group of five Running Eagles to score in double-digits with 14 points. Nathan Presnell scored 13.

Should sixth-seeded Dalton State take down Life in the first round of the SSAC tournament, a semifinal would await against either second-seeded Stillman or the winner of a first-round game between No. 7 Loyola and No. 10 Middle Georgia. That game takes place Wednesday.

UT Southern is the top-seeded team in the league at 18-2 in conference. Stillman was second at 16-4, and Life was 14-6.

Dalton State didn’t get a win in any of their two chances against each of the top three seeds during the regular season, but the Roadrunners will get another chance against Life, and possibly the others if they pull an upset.