By Andrew Pulverenti | NAIA Media Services

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box Score) No. 1 seeded Dalton State (Ga.) withstood an upset bid from No. 8 seeded Harris Stowe State (Mo.), coming back from a halftime deficit to pull out an 84-82 win in the first round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium. The 2015 national champions survive to the second round to face the winner of Montana Western and LSU Shreveport (La.) Friday at 9:15 p.m. CDT.

Carnilious Simmons recorded his 16th double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Dalton State (28-4). Four other Roadrunners finished in double-digits, including Mike Harden, who scored 16 points. The two combined for 14 of Dalton State’s 30 total field goals in the game.

Dalton State took control early in the first half, building up a 17-7 lead with 14:18 to play before halftime. Isiah Box scored eight of his 12 points during the opening stretch. The Roadrunners’ lead sat at 19-9 moments later, but Harris-Stowe State began to chip away at its deficit. The Hornets, making the program’s first-ever appearance at the national championship, went on an 18-6 run over a more than five-minute stretch midway through the half.

The run was capped by a three-point field goal from Evans Ganapamo to put Harris-Stowe State ahead 27-25. After the Roadrunners took a brief 29-27 lead, the Hornets spent the rest of the half building up an advantage. Trevor Roberts scored two of his nine points on a pair of free throws with under two minutes to play in the half to make the score, 45-36. Dalton State trimmed its deficit before the break, but went into halftime trailing, 46-40.

"I didn't feel like we were out of sync offensively in the first half,” said Dalton State Head Coach Tony Ingle. “What we were doing was testing (Harris-Stowe) to see what would work and what wouldn't. It was a bit of a cat-and-mouse game back and forth. We were down at halftime, but it was only by six points, so it wasn't the end of the world."

Harris-Stowe State’s halftime lead dwindled in the early minutes of the second half, as Dalton State outscored the Hornets by an 11-5 margin to own a 51-50 lead after a Box free throw with 16:32 to play in the game. The lead changed hands multiple times over the next several minutes. Harris-Stowe State owned a 64-62 lead with just over nine minutes played in the half when Jamaal Hinton scored his only two points of the game. The Hornets gradually built up to a 69-62 advantage with 8:25 to play. Dalton State worked back, and reclaimed the lead again at 74-72 after Sayvon Wilson scored two of his 12 points with 4:33 left on the clock.

"Harris-Stowe attacked the basket and hit their 3-pointers in the first half,” said Ingle “One of the biggest differences was that we held them to (1-for-7) on 3-pointers in the second half. I was really happy with how we competed in the second half and we competed with composure. I was very pleased with how this team responded in this environment. We kept our composure offensively, we competed well defensively and we rebounded hard. I feel blessed to move on."

The Roadrunners maintained a lead through the closing minutes of the contest, but three missed free throws in the final 21-seconds of play allowed Harris-Stowe State to stay in the game. Craig Davila Jr., hit a field goal with 16-seconds remaining to cut the Roadrunner deficit to 83-80. Dalton State’s Reed Dungan scored his 10th point with a free throw, making the score 84-80 with 12-seconds to play. Malik Wineglass cut the Dalton State deficit in half to 84-82, but the Roadrunners ran out the final three seconds to pull out the 84-82 win.

"That was a good team we beat tonight,” said Ingle “Their confidence was up and they've been as hot as any team in the country. Obviously, there's some things I'd like for us to do better, but was a tough team we played tonight."

Dalton State shot 45.5-percent from the field, 63.6-percent from the free throw line and 16.7-percent on three-point attempts, all below the team’s averages for the season. The Roadrunners finished with 20 second-chance points and a 16-11 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Jalen Fletcher led the Hornets with 16 points while Cameron Biedscheid added 14 points, both coming off the bench. Harris-Stowe State shot 54.8 percent in the first half and 51.7 percent in the game. The Hornets also scored 16 points on fast break opportunities.

“I am very proud of our guys and their fight throughout the entire game,” said Harris-Stowe State head coach Brion Dunlap. “Dalton State is really a well-coached team and they came up with a few more big plays than we did. We had a great season and want to continue to build on it. We desire to make coming to the national tournament an annual event.”

Harris Stowe finishes its season with a 19-13 record.

GAME NOTES
Dalton State
Dalton State make its second appearance at the national championship tournament in three years and second overall under the direction of Tony Ingle… Dalton State won the national championship in their first-ever appearance, defeating Westmont (Calif.), 71-53, in 2015… The Roadrunners improved to 2-0 in the first round and 6-0 overall… DSC entered the tournament riding a six-game win streak, earning the bid as the Southern States Athletic Conference Champion… The regular season was highlighted by a 15-game win-streak… Dalton State entered the tournament scoring 82.3 points per contest… The Road Runners normally only give up 70.5 points per game, tonight the Hornets produced 82… Carnilious Simmons entered the game leading the nation in offensive rebounds per game (3.871), today he marked four…Simmons was limited to just single-digits five times in 31 games – he scored 23… Mike Harden has reached double-figures in 15 games this season.

Harris-Stowe State
Harris-Stowe State is making its first appearance to the national championship tournament after winning their last three road games (defeating 17th-ranked Park (Mo.), 70-69, and William Woods who was receiving votes 80-56) en route to winning the American Midwest Conference Tournament Championship… It was the Hornets eighth conference championship, but first since 1983… Harris-Stowe State lost eight games in-a-row at the beginning of the season, but has righted the ship… First year coach, Brion Dunlap, has guided the Hornets to a 14-1 record in their last 15 games entering the tournament… Coming into Friday night’s game, the Hornets are ranked sixth in field goal percentage defense (0.400) and eighth in three-point field goal percentage defense (0.308)… Jalen Fletcher scored 10-plus points 22 times this season, including tonight where he paced the Hornets with 16 points… Four other Hornets reached double-digits; Craig Davila Jr. had 15, Cameron Biedscheid 14, Malik Wineglass 11, and Evans Ganapamo 10.

General Tournament Notes
Dalton State is one of four Southern States Athletic Conference teams in the tournament… SSAC is 1-3… Harris Stowe is one of three teams from the American Midwest Conference to make the tournament… AMC is 1-2….Dalton State is the first No. 1 seed in the event to trail at halftime (46-40)… Four games have been decided by six points or less, with three being decided by two or fewer in the first 13 games of the tournament… Dalton State had yet to lose a game at the national tournament… All four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Round of 16 played out tomorrow… The last time a number one seed lost in the first round of the national tournament was in 2009 when former members William Jewell (Mo.) defeated Rogers State (Okla.) 76-73.