DALTON, Ga. – The Life University men's basketball team hit the road on Thursday for a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup with Dalton State, falling to the Roadrunners 81-72. With seven SSAC games remaining, Life U. (14-6, 7-6 in SSAC) falls to sixth in the standings. 

The Running Eagles will now host Talladega on Saturday for a 2 p.m. first tip. The game will be part of Life U. Athletics' Hall of Fame festivities, as the 2023 inductees will be honored at halftime. 

In the loss, the Running Eagles had a lead in the first half, but never grew the lead to anything larger than a basket as the Roadrunners capitalized on points in the paint and Life U. turnovers. The Running Eagles were led in scoring by Mohamed Elgohary who scored a team-high 24 points. The Roadrunners, however, were led by Donavan Miller who scored 28. 

With a slow first half offensively for Elgohary, the Running Eagles went to halftime trailing 38-31. The second half was a different story for the transfer forward, scoring 20 of his 24 points in the second period shooting a solid 7-11, including 4-6 from long range. 

Trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Running Eagles got hot down the stretch, slicing the deficit down to a one possession game with less than two minutes on the clock, 75-72.

The 12-0 run capped by a Dara Olanade jumper gave the Running Eagles a glimpse of hope, but after scoring 10 points in less than a minute to cut the deficit to a manageable scoreline of 75-72, Life U. went cold, not scoring another point for the final 1:15 of the contest.

In the end, the Running Eagles came up just short in the second half comeback attempt. Mohamed Elgohary led the team with 24 points while Dara Olanade contributed a solid double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Overall the team shot decent from the field (42%) and an efficient 12-14 from the line, but 19 turnovers turned into 23 DS points in the 81-72 loss.