The Chattanooga State men's basketball team beat ninth-seeded Dyersburg State 98-87 Tuesday evening in the NJCAA Region VII tournament at Motlow College and will play the top-seeded, nationally ranked hosts Thursday at 3 p.m. EST. Chattanooga State's Nick Ross, the TCCAA's leading scorer at 24.6 points a game going in, scored 27 and Devin Robinson and Anthony Prescott added 18 and 16 for the Tigers (15-13), who got 10 points and 14 rebounds from Jamal Smith and eight rebounds from Orlandis Jackson. The Chattanooga State and Cleveland State square off at 5 p.m. EST today at Motlow's Lynchburg, Tenn., campus.
• Tennessee Temple is hosting the National Christian College Athletic Association Mid-East Region men's basketball tournament starting Thursday, when Covenant (14-11) faces Hiwassee at 6 p.m. and the Crusaders (19-11) face Victory at 8 in search of their 11th consecutive victory. The winning teams play Friday against the top two seeds, Mid-Continent and Union University, and the championship game is set for 2 p.m. Saturday. The women's regional will begin Friday at Bluefield College, with Temple (15-14) facing top-seeded Union (18-8) at 5 p.m. and Covenant (13-10) taking on Bluefield at 7.
General
• Lewis Neyland, son of University of Tennessee coaching legend Gen. Robert Neyland and an accomplished athlete in his own right, died Saturday at the age of 79 at his Chattanooga home and will be buried Thursday after a 1 p.m. service at the Franklin-Strickland-Pinkard-Bryan-Smith funeral home at 1724 McCallie Ave. Lewis Neyland grew up in Knoxville but came to Chattanooga in the early 1960s to attend Baylor School. He lettered in basketball, golf and tennis at UT and later moved back to Chattanooga, went to work for Container Corp. and then began his own business, Neyland Packaging Co.
Baseball
• Tennessee Wesleyan senior pitcher Corey Rhoney was the Appalachian Athletic Conference baseball pitcher of the week after his eight shutout innings in a 2-0 home win Sunday against St. Andrews. He allowed only three hits and one walk and struck out seven batters in improving to 2-0 for the season. Logan Dalton was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Wes Minton and Brackton Smith had fourth-inning RBIs in that game. TWC won 6-5 and lost 3-2 when the teams played again Monday. Travis Burnside batted in two of the Bulldogs' six first-inning runs and Jake Stone and Drew Levi each was 1-for-2 with an RBI in the Monday win, and David Donald was 1-for-2 with a home run and Smith had their other RBI in the series finale. Wesleyan (15-5) won 4-1 Tuesday at Belhaven, where it plays again today, as Zach Fleshman allowed six hits in eight innings and Noah Piard pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save. Burnside was 3-for-4, stole two bases and scored twice and Dalton was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Golf
• Led by medalist Courtney Shelton, Lee University won the 12-team Rome News-Tribune Women's Golf Tournament that concluded Tuesday at Coosa Country Club. The Lady Flames shot 615 for 36 holes, beating Shorter by 18 with the University of the Cumberlands third at 636. Shelton shot147 (73-74), and teammate Madison Alexander tied for third at 154, one shot out of second. Lee's Bernadette Little tied for sixth at 155 and Sloane Skinner shared 14th place at 159.
Softball
• Bryan College junior third baseman Christine Marino from Miami was the AAC softball player of the week for her three-run home run that gave the Lady Lions a 10-7 walk-off win over Milligan. She also doubled in that doubleheader, had another RBI and scored three times and is batting .364 with seven extra-base hits, 12 RBIs and eight runs for the Lady Lions (6-6). Their doubleheader Tuesday against Truett-McConnell was called off.
Lacrosse
• Sewanee's Sally Anne Greenwood and freshman goalkeeper Sammy Strasburger were chosen the Southern Athletic Association women's lacrosse players of the week for their performances in the Tigers' 2-1 record last week. Greenwood was the offensive honoree for her four goals, 10 draw controls and nine ground balls in the three matches. Strasburger had 32 saves for the week and stopped three free-position attempts in the final minute of Sunday's 7-6 win over Carthage.
Swimming
• The Area 4 Special Olympics aquatics meet will be held Thursday at Girls Preparatory School. The opening ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. with races following immediately, and the public is invited.