Dalton State played a near perfect game with five players scoring in double-figures in route to a 102-87 win over Loyola (La.) at The Den in New Orleans on Monday afternoon.
THE FIRST HALF
C.J. Perry and Kevon Tucker made their presence known early, combining for the Roadrunners first 12 points on two three-pointers each.
The game remained close early with DS clinging to a 14-11 lead five minutes in.
Matt Maturah hit a shot from distance at the 12:03 mark to make the score 21-19 in the Roadrunners favor.
The shot light a fire under the Birds who reeled off a 16-2 run over the next five minutes of play to take a 37-21 lead.
Loyola hit a spurt capped by Josh Leaney hitting a triple with 4:26 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 11 points, 39-28.
Rodley Adjei and Randy Bell paced the Roadrunners with 10 straight to help match the Wolf Pack bucket-for-bucket.
Dalton State built the lead back up over the final two minutes of play to take an 18-point lead (55-37) into halftime.
THE SECOND HALF
Aaron Burress got the first basket out of the break to get the lead to 20 points (57-37).
Loyola tried to scrape away at the lead, but the Birds answered them at every turn.
The biggest lead of the day for Dalton State came at the 14:14 mark of the second half when Tucker hit a shot from distance to extend the lead to 21 points (69-48).
Loyola mounted another attack with 8:49 left to play and trailing 78-60.
They worked to get the DS advantage down to 11, but the Roadrunners hit another gear never letting the lead get below 14 points again.
Continuing to stretch the lead back out, the Roadrunners hit triple-digits coming away with a 102-87 win.
Dalton State (Ga.) improves to (18-1 overall, 7-1 SSAC) with the win, while Loyola (La.) falls to (15-5 overall, 6-2 SSAC) with the loss.
Perry (26) and Tucker (20) combined for 46 points and nine treys on the day to lead Dalton State.
Randy Bell pitched in 17 points and five rebounds, with Aaron Burress and Rodley Adjei adding 12 and 10 points respectively. Sean Cranney dished out most of the scoring opportunities with 11 assists.
Tim Cameron and Matt Maturah led the Wolf Pack with 21 and 19 points each, while Terry Smith Jr. (14) and Tensley Aldridge (10) also hit double-figures.
It was a slim advantage on the boards for the Roadrunners (31-30), who also held scored more points off turnovers (24-20). Second chance points (12-7) and bench points (34-32) went the way of the Wolf Pack.
The Roadrunners were lights out from the field in the first half going 16-for-25 (64 %). They kept it rolling in the second period with a 51.5% clip (17-for-33) to go 56.9% (33-for-58) overall for the game.
Dalton State also did a tremendous job defensively containing super sophomores Myles Burns and Zach Wrightsil. The duo were catalysts to an SSAC Tournament Championship last season for Loyola and each averaged double-figures in points coming in with Wrightsil at 16.8 ppg and Burns at 14.7 ppg. Today, the Roadrunners held them to a combined 2-for-11 from the field and six points each.
Dalton State will hit the road again for a matchup with Martin Methodist (Tenn.) in Pulaski, Tenn. on Saturday, January 25. Tip-Off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (CT).