Kansas City, MO – The fifth-seed UC men's basketball team had a chance to force overtime in the final seconds but the shot came up short as they fell to fourth-seed Dalton State 62-60 in the first round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament Thursday morning.  With the win the Road Runners improve to 25-8, while the Patriots conclude their season with a 21-10 mark.

Dalton State netted the first bucket of the game, but the Patriots responded quickly as Chance Morton drained a pair of three pointers to give UC a 6-4 lead, just over two minutes in.   Will Gary netted the next four Patriot points to give UC a four point lead with 15:21 remaining.  The game was tied on three occasions before Anthony Eaves hit from long range to put Cumberlands ahead 18-15 with 11:24 remaining. That shot sparked a 7-0 run as the Patriots took their largest lead of the first half 22-15 midway through.  Dalton State responded with a 14-4 run, over the course of six minutes, to take a 29-26 edge with 3:42 left.  Eaves hit three straight from behind-the-arc to put UC back in front and help the Patriots to a 35-31 halftime lead. 

The Road Runners netted the first five points of the second half, before Malik Colvin-Seldon found Eric Duncan for three to give the Patriots a 38-36 lead.  Gary converted back-to-back buckets to push the lead to six with 14:16 remaining. The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes as Dalton State evened the score 46-46 midway through the second half.  The game was tied again at 48-48 before Bernard Samuel hit a free throw to put UC up one with 7:10 remaining.  UC used a 9-7 run to take a 58-55 lead with 3:32 left.  The Road Runners netted the next five points to give Dalton Stat a 60-58 lead with 40 seconds remaining.  On the ensuing Patriot possession Gary hit a lay-up to tie the game with 24 seconds left.  Benat Hevia hit a pair of free throws with 4.8 seconds giving Dalton State a 62-60 lead.  Cumberlands had a chance to tie the game as Will Gary drove the length of the court at put up a layup but couldn't convert for the 62-60 final.

Leading the way for the Patriots was Gary who tallied 16 points and five rebounds.  Eaves added 14 points, included 4-8 from three, while Morton tallied a team-high nine rebounds to go with seven points.  

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