Dalton State plays tonight for the NAIA Division I men’s basketball championship in its second year as a program. The sixth-seeded Roadrunners beat No. 2 Talladega College 64-54 in a semifinal Monday night in Kansas City, Mo., despite shooting only 30.9 percent. They shot 28 percent in the second half but outscored Talladega 35-25, even though the Hurricanes scored the first five points of the half for a 34-29 lead. Preston Earle had 16 points and eight rebounds, Anthony Hilliard had 14 points and five steals, Jamaine Burrey scored 10 points and Ladaris Green had 10 rebounds for DSC (31-4). Shondel Stewart led Talladega (32-5) with 17 points and seven rebounds but made seven turnovers. WDNN in Dalton will televise the championship game against Westmont (24-10), which upset fellow California team and No. 1 seed Hope International 70-69. Hope had beat the Warriors twice earlier this season.
Softball
* University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman pitcher Cori Jennings was named Southern Conference softball pitcher of the week by the league office Monday. The left-hander from Brush Creek, Tenn., went 2-1 with an earned run average of 1.56 in 18 innings last week, including two wins in the Mocs’ three-game SoCon series sweep of UNC Greensboro on Saturday and Sunday.
Golf
* The UTC women’s golf team shot a 310 in the first round of the Briar’s Creek Invitational tournament Monday at Johns Island, S.C., but the second round was suspended and will be finished this morning before round three. The Mocs are tied for 11th with College of Charleston, 11 shots out of third. Miami and Florida lead at 291. UTC’s Agathe Sauzon is tied for 23rd with her first-round 75. Emily McLennan and Megan Woods shot 78s, Cris Perez shot 79 and Isabella Loza shot 80.
* Lee University is second at 585, seven shots behind Missouri-St. Louis, after Monday’s two rounds in North Alabama’s eight-team University Golf Classic at Muscle Shoals. Lee’s Taylor Davis and Shea Sylvester are tied for fourth individually at 143, two behind the leaders, and Corey Sheppard shot 148 with Peyton Sliger at 151.
Track & Field
* Winthrop University freshman Preston Elwell from Signal Mountain finished third in the javelin event in his first college track and field meet this past weekend. He had a throw of 180 feet, 2 inches at the 49er Classic at UNC Charlotte.
Auto Racing
* Jim Brackett from Etowah, Tenn., won the $2,000 top prize in the 275 Outlaw class Saturday night at the Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip. He won with a 5.22-second run in his 1965 Chevy II Nova powered by a modified 707 cubic-inch big-block Chevy engine. Heath Littrell from Cleveland was second in a 1972 Nova. More than 100 cars were entered in the seven heads-up classes. Anthony Hopkins of Rossville won in 275 Stock with Paul Fritty of Powell second; Conley Brown of Athens won in 275 Cheap Stock with Mark Wilson of Powder Springs, Ga., second; Alabama residents Doug Atwer of Newport and Ray Bayless of Northport were first and second in the 5.30-second class; Marvin Crutcher of Ooltewah was first and Greg Trew of Cleveland was second in 5.70; James Bosley of Rockwood and Mark Dempsey of Whitwell were first and second in 6.00; and Grady Robinson of Rex, Ga., won in 7.00 with Jason Young of Englewood second.
Baseball
* Sewanee’s Jackson Cooper was the Southern Athletic Association baseball player of the week after batting .462 with a .517 on-base percentage in the Tigers’ 4-3 trip to Florida. He had four doubles among his 12 hits, batted in 11 runs and scored seven.
* Bryan College’s Chris Jeffries was 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs in a 9-8 NAIA baseball win Monday at home against Cumberland. Cody Rhinehart was 2-for-4 and scored a run for Bryan (23-8).
Lacrosse
* Sewanee’s Ellie Murphy was selected as the SAA women’s lacrosse offensive player of the week for matches through Sunday, and Sewanee’s Hal Smith was the men’s defensive honoree. He won 17 of 19 faceoffs against DePauw on Saturday. Murphy had 11 goals and 14 assists in four wins for the female Tigers, with an .813 shots-on-goal percentage.
Rugby
* The UTC women’s rugby club team won three of four matches Saturday and Sunday and finished second in the 33rd annual Nash Bash in Nashville. UTC edged Kent State 20-17 with a last-possession score, beat the University of Chicago 17-12, downed Findlay 12-5 and lost 26-19 in the championship match against Eastern Kentucky. The final was tied at 12 at halftime, but the Lady Mocs were hurt by injuries. UTC faces Emory this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. as the North Division top seed in the SIRC Championships.