The Dalton State Roadrunners had a 54-41 lead with 10:06 left in Monday night’s game, but couldn’t hang on. The University of Mobile Rams outscored the Roadrunners 16-2 to take just their third lead of the night at 57-56 and never looked back.
Scoring 27 of the game’s final 33 points, the Rams (10-4, 4-0 SSAC) cruised to a 68-60 win.
The visitors had also build an 10-point lead in the first half (36-26) before Mobile cut the lead to four at the break, 36-32.. Dalton State Coach Tony Ingle said the team must work on correcting mental errors.
“We did not execute to finish the first half very well nor did we finish well to end the game,” said Ingle. “We must learn to adjust to keeping our composure when a series of calls do not go our way in tight situations on the road. We will look at film and work on correcting our mental errors.”
Three point shots were big for Mobile as they connected on 4-8 while the Roadrunners only hit 4 of 18. Rebounding was just as big as they outrebounded the Roadrunners 40 to 20.
Dalton State hit 15 of 30 shots from the floor in the first half, but could only muster 10 of 29 after the break.
Marcel Hawkins led Dalton scorers with 21 points. Rudy Winters added 10. Jordan Bowling came into the game leading Roadrunner scorers, but was held to just two points before fouling out. Jalen Robinson scored nine points, Deshawn Ruffin six and Reed Dungan added five.
Mobile’s Brandon Barnes had a game-high 25 points including 8 of 9 free throws and 3 of 5 from beyond the arch. Daouda Sourmaoro added 15 points. The Rams improve to 10-4 on the season and remain undefeated at 4-0 in the Southern State Athletic Conference.
Dalton State (11-3 overall, 3-1 SSAC) comes home Thursday night to host No. 17 Martin Methodist (9-5, 3-1) at 7:30 p.m. EST. The Roadrunners also entertain Bethel University Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
NAIA Monday Scoreboard:
(RV) University of Mobile 78, (9) Dalton State 60
(17) Martin Methodist (Tn.) 77, Auburn Montgomery 60
Bethel (Tn.) 95, Faulkner (Ala.) 73
Middle Georgia State 87, Loyola (La.) 80
William Carey (Miss.) 82, Coastal Georgia 56
Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 68, Blue Mountain (Miss.) 63
(1) Pikeville (Ky.) 75, Ave Maria (Fla.) 58
Campbellsville (Ky.) 84, Wilmington College 64
St. Andrews (NC) 73, Truett-McConnell 65
Bryan (Tn.) 88, Point (Ga.) 79