Beep, beep! The Dalton State College Roadrunners defeated Loyola of New Orleans 79-70 in the Southern States Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament championship game Saturday night in Montgomery, Alabama. Dalton State, ranked No. 4 in NAIA Division I, improved its program-best record to 30-3 as All-SSAC first-teamers Kevon Tucker and Randy Bell scored 20 and 19 points and Dauson Womack added 11 plus 10 rebounds. C.J. Perry had four assists. They would have been invited anyway, but the win gives the Roadrunners an automatic entry in the national tournament March 18-24 in Kansas City, Missouri.
* Lee University’s 11th-ranked and No. 2-seeded Lady Flames lost 81-77 to Delta State on Saturday afternoon in the Gulf South Conference basketball semifinals in Birmingham, Alabama. The Lee men, also seeded second, lost 72-63 in a night game to Alabama-Huntsville, which is directed by former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and McCallie School coach John Shulman. Marty Rowe’s Lady Flames are 26-4 and sure to play in an NCAA Division II regional – even perhaps as host – but it will be as an at-large entry instead of a GSC repeat champion. They were outscored 24-12 in the third quarter, so even 32 points in the fourth weren’t enough to complete the comeback. Delta State made 18 of 25 free throws in that last quarter, 36 of 50 for the game, and outglassed Lee 44-36 with 16 offensive rebounds. Haley Schubert scored 21 points and Abby Bertram had 17 plus seven assists in defeat, and Halle Hughes led a late flurry and scored 13. In defeating the Flames (22-7) for the second time in eight days, the Chargers (25-5) outscored them 41-22 in the second half and was led by JJ Kaplan and Sam Orf with 23 and 18 points and eight rebounds apiece. Quay Kennedy scored 18 points and Parker Suedekum and Ryan Montgomery added 14 and 12 for Lee, Suedekum with five assists.
* Bryan College will open play Wednesday in its fourth consecutive NAIA Division II women’s basketball tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. The 14th-ranked Lions (28-2) are scheduled to play No. 18 Siena Heights (27-5) of Michigan at 6:15 p.m. EDT.
Tennis
* The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defeated visiting Western Carolina 5-2 in a Southern Conference women’s match Saturday, after the UTC men (12-4) beat Toledo (10-7) by the same score Friday. The female Mocs (8-5, 1-1) got a doubles sweep headed by newly 76th-ranked Emma Van Hee and Caroline Gibbens and singles wins from Jessie Young, Polina Goloputova, Lilly Holmes and Callie Billman. Singles victors for the men were Niklas Gerdes (15-1 at No. 1), Tomas Rodriguez, Jeffrey Dewald and Simon Bustamante.