Jordan Bowling had 32 points, 17 rebounds and five assists as Dalton State College defeated Wiley College from Marshall, Texas, 97-86 in the NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament Wednesday morning at Kansas City, Mo.
The sixth-ranked Roadrunners (28-4) play again at 10 a.m. EDT Friday against Evangel (Mo.), which upset No. 11 Wayland Baptist.
In the National Christian College Athletic Association Division I tournaments at Winona Lake, Ind., the top-seeded Lee University teams both won over No. 8 seeds Wednesday. The Lee men held off Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) 63-61 in a game that tipped off at 8:30 a.m., and the Lady Flames blistered Southwestern Assemblies of God 75-52 after leading by 32 points.
The Lee Flames (18-12) face Colorado Christian at 3:30 p.m. today, and the Lady Flames (21-8) take on Emmanuel from Franklin Springs, Ga., at 7.
Dalton State had six double-figure scorers. In addition to Bowling, Preston Earle scored 22 points, Sean Tate and Jamaine Burrey tallied 12 apiece and Ladaris Green had 10 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Phillip Miller scored 27 points with four 3-point baskets for Wiley (21-12), whith got 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks from DaJaun Cooper.
The Roadrunners led by 12 points after a Bowling 3-pointer with 8:33 to go in the first half, and an Anthony Hilliard 3 made the margin 17 late in the half. After a Miller basket got Wiley within seven with 16:11 left in the game, Dalton State scored the next 11 points, six of them by Burrey off the bench.
For the Lee men, Chase Cullen had 19 points and 16 rebounds, including eight on the offensive backboards. Stephan Burrows scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Cory Billingsley added 11. Quin Cooper scored 23 for the Pioneers (23-7).
The Flames led by 11 points with 6:49 to go but watched that cushion shrink to three on a Cooper 3-pointer with 3:03 left. After a Cullen basket at 2:10, Cooper hit two free throws five seconds later. Cullen made it 63-59 with a free throw with 1:54 to go, and Skylor Guess cut the gap to two at 1:30, but no one scored again. Most of the chances were by Flames.
There was no such drama for the Lady Flames, who got 23 points with seven 3s by Kayla Beavers, 16 points with four 3s by Erin Walsh, 10 points and 10 rebounds each from Shelby Brown and Carrie Cheeks, eight assists from Alex Swope and four steals by Christina Johnson. Laken Ward had 15 points and 12 rebounds for SAGU (14-20).
Lee led 40-21 on a Beavers 3 in the final minute of the first half and never trailed by less than 15 after that. In fact, the margin got to 30 with just under 13 minutes left in the game.
SUMMARIES
NAIA Division I men's tournament
Wednesday at Kansas City, Mo.
DALTON STATE 97, WILEY 86
Dalton State (28-4)
Bowling 32, Green 10, Hilliard 8, Tates 12, Earle 22, Burrey 12, Mosley 1, Williams, Smith, Terry.
Wiley (21-12)
Page 11, Cooper 18, Gibson, Miller 27, Jones, Davis 6, White 14, Jackson 3, George 4, Guy, Wiggins, Johnson 3.
Halftime: Dalton State, 47-34.
NCCAA Division I tournaments
Wednesday at Winona Lake, Ind.
LEE MEN 63, CROWLEY'S RIDGE 61
Crowley's Ridge (23-7)
Guess 5, Walker 8, Vandergriff, Cooper 23, Shepard 13, Kleffer 9, Smith 3, Ballard, Forshee, Vance.
Lee (18-12)
Wilson 2, Ford 7, Billingsley 11, Lee 3, Cullen 19, Merian 4, Johnson 2, Burrows 15, Farley.
Halftime: Crowley's Ridge, 34-31.
LEE WOMEN 75, SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD 52
SAGU (14-20)
Dorsey 6, Hill 2, Ward 15, McAfee 5, Cox 12, Page 7, Colbert, Krock, Rodriguez 5, Diggles.
Lee (21-8)
Walsh 16, Swope 2, Smith 4, Johnson 4, Brown 10, Beavers 23, Cheeks 10, Neuharth 2, Jameson 4, Martinez, HIll, Jones, Ford.
Halftime: Lee, 40-23.