The city of Dalton, Ga., will be welcoming home a national champion tonight.
The Dalton State Roadrunners emphatically won the NAIA Division I men’s basketball title Tuesday night in Kansas City, Mo., with a 71-53 rout of Westmont, a Southern California team that had beat the top seed the night before.
Dalton State is a second-year program eligible for the postseason for the first time, and the Roadrunners shot 47 percent from the field while allowing Westmont to hit 30 percent.
Jordan Bowling scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Anthony Hilliard and Preston Earle added 14 and 13, while NAIA rebounding leader Ladaris Green had 11 rebounds with Bowling grabbing seven. DSC led 37-21 at halftime.