Scoreless stretches doom Dalton State in loss
Feb. 9—With 5:16 to go in Thursday night's home game against Brewton-Parker College, Dalton State's Boubacar Kamissoko collided with a defender while coaxing in what could have been a go-ahead basket for the Roadrunners.
Two officials whistled for a foul, stared at each other for a beat and decided on a call that could have gone either way. Offensive foul.
The potential go-ahead shot was waved off, and Dalton State wouldn't get another chance like it.
A late scoreless stretch doomed Dalton State as Southern States Athletic Conference foe Brewton-Parker took advantage and took control to win 69-60.
With three regular season games remaining, the Roadrunners (15-10, 10-7 SSAC) fell to a Brewton-Parker (6-19, 4-13 SSAC) team that came in with only three conference wins. The loss sends Dalton State into a tie for fourth in the SSAC standings.
In an uphill battle of a second half, Dalton State's Franklin Almonte hit a foul-line jumper with 5:49 remaining to bring the Roadrunners to within 55-54. With Kamissoko's shot being nullified, Almonte's shot would become the only points the Roadrunners would score for nearly five more minutes.
A pair of dagger 3-pointers by the visiting Barons had them up 63-54 by the time Dalton State finally got back on the board with 1:06 to play. Brewton-Parker scored eight straight between Roadrunner buckets as the second half dwindled.
Jaelin Ferrell and Carterius Evans both hit late 3-pointers for DSC, but the Barons left Dalton with a 69-60 win.
Those two triples were the exception to the rule the Roadrunners had been building, especially in the second half. Dalton State was 3-for-19 from deep before the late makes, including a 1-for-11 stretch in the second period. Dalton State hoisted a few open 3-pointers during the late collapse, but couldn't get one to fall.
It was another scoreless stretch earlier on that had the Roadrunners playing catchup.
Dalton State battled back from an early deficit to earn a lead late in the first half, but the Barons scored the final 12 points of the period and led 37-28 at the break.
Brewton-Parker made it a 16-0 run with the first four points of the second, and the Roadrunners faced a 41-28 hole.
The Roadrunners held the visitors down for a low-scoring stretch of their own, and a 17-4 spurt had the game tied at 45 with 12:34 to play.
Almonte — briefly — gave the Roadrunners their only lead of the second half with a basket with 10 minutes to play. Brewton-Parker hit a 3-pointer just eight seconds later and never trailed again.
The Roadrunners led for just 2:01 of total game time.
Despite the loss, Almonte, a Dalton High School graduate, had one of his best games of the season.
Almonte scored 14, one off his season-high, pulled down nine rebounds and swatted two shots. The forward helped spark that early second-half offensive spurt with a triple and a putback.
Evans was also instrumental during that stretch, throwing down a fastbreak dunk. He led the team with 15 points while hitting 7-for-8 from the floor. Sean Cobb compiled a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.
Brewton-Parker's Lance Smith led the Barons with 16.
The Roadrunners play their final home game of the season Saturday at 2 p.m. against Talladega.
