HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The William Carey Men's Basketball Team came up short, as they fell to Dalton State 76-74 in SSAC action Tuesday evening at Clinton Gym.
"A really frustrating game for us today," said Head Coach Steve Knight. "We were very lethargic the first half and allowed them to dictate the pace on both ends of the floor. We showed a lot of grit to fight back and give ourselves a chance to win in the second half, but they made the final play."
Despite being outshot 50% to 34% the Crusaders found themselves down by only nine points at the break in large part to winning the rebound battle 25-17. After missing their first two shot attempts, Cam Brown scored five straight points to put Carey on the board and give them a 5-4 lead after three minutes of play.
That would be the last time WCU led in the first half though. Over the next two minutes, Matt Compas followed with a layup to put Dalton back in front with the Roadrunners scoring six more points to pull away to a 12-5 advantage.
The Crusaders halted the run and answered with a 7-2 run of their own to get back within two points. However, Carey could get no closer, as DSC answered each time eventually pulling away to a 31-22 lead with under five to play.
Over the final five minutes of the half, the Crusaders managed to get within five at 36-31 on a Randarius Hughes jumper with less than two minutes remaining. Just like before though the Roadrunners answered closing the half on a 4-0 run.
Coming out of the break, both teams went back and forth until the Crusaders went on an 11-0 run to retake the lead. With Dalton leading 48-40, Hughes got things going for Carey, scoring four straight points with Ashton Campbell following with three straight. Zandon Haralson continued the run for WCU with a layup with Dylan Brumfield making the layup that put Carey in front 51-48 with under fifteen minutes remaining.
Things went back forth for the next several minutes but over a four-minute span, Dalton again pulled away behind a 17-4 run to take a ten-point lead with eight minutes to play. The Crusaders would not go quietly, slowly chipping away at the DSC lead and with less than a minute remaining, Brown drained a three pointer from the near corner to tie the game at 74. With the game tied, time winding down, and the Roadrunners having the ball, Antonio Lewis drove the lane making what would be the game winning layup to seal the victory.
Dylan Brumfield led the offense with 21 points. Randarius Hughes finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Cam Brown had 15 points.
Carey is back in action Thursday, December 19, as they take on Blue Mountain Christian in conference action. Play is set to begin at 7:30 pm at Clinton Gym.
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