It was all Austin Peay State University Monday night as the NCAA Division I Governors jumped out to a 21-9 lead over Dalton State (14-1) and never looked back in a non-counting exhibition game, 93-57.
APSU led by 17 at the half (41-24), doubled the DS score (66-33) at the 11:16 mark, and led by as many as 41 (93-52) before the Roadrunners scored the final five points of the game.
“Playing a DI team is always a daunting task for any NAIA team and although we competed and played hard we did not knock down shots like we normally do,” said DS Coach Tony Ingle.
Demetrice Jacobs led Dalton State with 20 points and nine rebounds. He was four of eight from outside the arch and connected on four of six free throws attempts. Preston Earle scored 15 points (5-6 from the foul line), Erich Allen came off the bench to score six, Sean Tate five, Ricky Sears and Anthony Hilliard were held to four points each, and Dylan Smith hit a three.
“DJ (Jacobs) was really the only bright spot from an individual performance standpoint,” said Ingle. He was also impressed with Raheem Mosley’s fighting spirit after suffering a busted lip in the game. “It was very inspirational to see Raheem come back in the game after receiving four stitches in his bottom lip.”
The Governor’s Travis Betran had a game high 24 points including six of nine from three-point range. Zavion Williams went three for three from long range while scoring 17 points. Will Triggs scored 12.
Austin Peay used their considerable height advantage in outrebounding Dalton State 44 to 26. The hosts also hit 69.8% of field goals to 29.7% for DS. APSU connected on 11 of 20 three’s to 8 of 32 for Dalton.
“We could not make any outside shots consistently all night,” Ingle said. “They were extremely physical on the boards all night and we had trouble matching up with their size and quickness.”
A bright spot for the Roadrunners was 11 of 15 from the foul line (73.3%) compared to 8 of 16 for the Governors.
Three Home Games Are Coming Up
Dalton State returns home for counting action beginning Thursday afternoon at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center. The Roadrunners host Reinhardt University (7-7) in a 4:00 p.m. contest.
The Eagles are led by David Lawson with 16.62 points per game, Ishmael John is averaging 14.67 and Jerome Carmichael 9.70.
The Roadrunners then entertain NAIA D-I #17 ranked Faulkner State (9-4) from Montgomery, AL on Saturday afternoon at 4:00. FS, also called the Eagles, knocked off 25th-ranked Xavier of New Orleans in their last game (December 19), 62-53.
Faulkner has also downed #22 Martin Methodist 72-63, but lost a close game to #15 Freed-Hardeman 92-89. Against common opponents, the Eagles have defeated Concordia 92-65 and Carver Bible College twice, 93-81 and 74-71.
Dalton State’s Monday night (January 6) game hosting Spring Hill (1-10) from Mobile, AL has been moved to 5:30 p.m. The Badgers were the Roadrunners first victim of the season back on October 30 (69-66). The only Spring Hill win of the season was against Tennessee Temple, 81-76.