Dalton State pulls away for first win of season on sloppy shooting night

Published 9:49 pm Monday, October 30, 2023

Dalton State College shot just 35% from the floor and 9.1% from the 3-point arc in Monday night’s game against Tennessee Wesleyan.

The good news for the Roadrunners, who played hard and created plenty of pressure despite the shots not falling?

The visitors had it worse.

Dalton State (1-1) held Tennessee Wesleyan (0-2) to a 26.4% shooting clip and pulled away from the Bulldogs early in the second half for a 65-57 victory, the first of the young season for Dalton State.

“That’s pretty uncharacteristic for us — we made 10 threes the other night – but I thought most were good looks,” Dalton State head coach Alex Ireland said. “I thought we focused and kept pressure on them and eventually we broke through.”

The shots weren’t falling early for either team, but the Roadrunners played with energy to start and didn’t let many Bulldog possessions end in good looks at the goal.

Dalton State’s Matt Compas sparked some early offense by running the floor and scoring in transition, tallying nine of the first 11 points of the game for the Roadrunners.

Once Donavan Miller entered as a reserve at the eight-minute mark, the returning starter for DSC got the Dalton State half-court offense working.

With the game tied at 24 with 2:56 left in the first half, Miller went on a personal 5-0 run — a 3-pointer followed by a stepback 2 — to give the Roadrunners a lead that they wouldn’t ever give up.

The Roadrunners made it a 9-2 stretch the rest of the half, as Miller scored 14 points in 12 first-half minutes to put Dalton State up 33-26 at the break.

Miller wouldn’t score again — and Compas would only add one more after 11 first-half points — but the rest of the Roadrunners were ready to go.

“I thought in the first half we tried to push a little too much,” Ireland said. “We forced some things and had a few turnovers. Late in the first half and to start the second half, I thought we did a much better job.”

An Ellis Lee 3-pointer, one of only two in the game for DSC, early in the second half gave Dalton State its first 10-point advantage at 37-27.

The advantage hovered near 10 until Roadrunner forward Carterius Evans, who exited late in the first half with three fouls, came back to spark a quick run by first pulling down a rebound and dribbling all the way down the court before dishing to Qualen Pettus for a lay-in. Evans put in a putback on the next possession, then coaxed in a shot through a foul a few plays later to complete a 9-0 run and make the lead its largest at 53-34 with 9:44 remaining.

At that point in the game, the Roadrunners had run away with the game thanks to a 29-10 extended stretch.

The Bulldogs whittled the lead down to single digits as reserves entered late. Dalton State never trailed despite an extended stretch of the first half with the game tied or within two points.

Miller finished as the leading Roadrunner scorer with 14 and added three steals, while Compas totaled 12.

Harrison Eghan, one of 13 Roadrunner newcomers, scored 10 points, pulled down a game-leading 15 rebounds and had four blocks. Pettus had seven points.

“It’s a fun group,” Ireland said. “We’re still trying to get a feel for each other. Practice is one thing and games are another. I think this group has corrected that really well early, and now we just have to get more and more familiar with each other.”

Ty Hurst of Tennessee Wesleyan led the game with 17 points.

After two home games to begin the season — Dalton State opened the year with a loss to Bryan College on Saturday — the Roadrunners will hit the road for the next four.

Next up is the Southern States Athletic Conference/Sun Conference Challenge in Montgomery, Alabama, starting Thursday. Dalton State plays Coastal Georgia at 9 p.m. Thursday before facing Keiser at 9 the following night.