DALTON, Ga. – Turnovers and poor shooting plagued Faulkner in its SSAC opener Thursday night as it lost to Dalton State 71-66. The Eagles opened the game on a 9-0 run before Dalton State pulled itself back into the game. The teams settled into a shot-for-shot affair for much of the opening half. The Roadrunners took their first lead with 3:02 left until halftime when Igor Stokic drained a three.

Dalton kept that lead until the 8:09 mark in the second half when a C.J. Jones (SR/Port Richey, Fla.) triple put Faulkner up 51-50. The senior made another shot from deep 29 seconds later to stretch the advantage to four points. Dalton recaptured the lead on a pair of Rodley Adjei free throws with 6:09 to play.

C.J. Williamson (SO/Guntersville, Ala.) knocked down two free throws at the 4:25 mark to tie the game before hitting two more a minute later for the 60-58 lead. With 2:42 left, Jordan Young converted an and-1 opportunity to put Dalton up 63-62.

Faulkner followed that lead change with a turnover. After Kevon Tucker made a shot at the 2:09 mark, Faulkner hit a free throw with 1:29 left to narrow it to 65-63. The Eagles then missed three consecutive free throws on two trips to the line before Dalton ultimately put the game away.

Faulkner shot just 36 percent from the floor while going 52.9 percent from the charity stripe during 34 chances. The Eagles also turned the ball over 23 times in the contest while giving up 15 offensive rebounds to Dalton. The game saw the teams combine for 41 turnovers and 57 fouls.

Garrett Sanderson (JR/Montgomery, Ala.) paced Faulkner with 13 points. Nate Bradley (SR/Concord, N.Y.), Jones and Williamson had 12 points apiece in the loss. Tucker led all scorers with 16 points while C.J. Perry and Randy Bell had 10 points each for Dalton.

Faulkner (5-2, 0-1 SSAC) returns to action Saturday when it travels to Pulaski, Tenn. to take on Martin Methodist.