January 5, 2018
PHOTO GALLERY - Photos credits by Cody Welu
MADISON, S.D. – Dickinson State (N.D.) stormed to a 27-4 lead in the first-half over Dakota State (S.D.) Friday evening at DSU Fieldhouse in the North Star Athletic Association Men's Basketball conference action. The Trojans cut the Blue Hawks' lead into single-digit in the second-half, but the Blue Hawks held on to a 79-71 victory.
DaSU's head coach Gary Garner returned back to the sidelines for the first time since Oct. 29 after recovering from surgery for pancreatic cancer. The Trojans suffered their sixth straight defeat, falling to 7-10 overall record and 2-3 record in NSAA conference. Dickinson State raised their overall record to 9-6 and is currently in a two-way tie for first-place in the North Star conference standings with a 5-1 record (Mayville State, N.D.).
The Blue Hawks quickly grabbed a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, thanks to their 5-of-6 field goals. The Trojans missed the first six shots of the game before Josh McGreal broke the scoring drought with a basket with 15:49 on the clock (DaSU trained 12-2).
McGreal added the second basket at the game as the Trojans trailed 14-4 with 14:39 in the first period. The Blue Hawks then went on a 13-0 scoring tear to earn their biggest lead of the game at 27-4 with 7:34 remaining after a 3-pointer by Terrell Buler.
Dakota State missed 11 shots during their scoring drought for almost 10 minutes. Falcon Albers halted the scoring drought with a 3-pointer as the Trojans trailed 27-7 with 4:51 left before intermission.
Down 32-12, DaSU scored the final eight points of the first-half as the Blue Hawks' lead went down to 12 points at 32-20. Justin Folkers made a 3-pointer when the first-half expired.
DiSU was 40 percent from the field (12-of-30), including 5-of-12 from the 3-point arc in the first twenty minutes. DaSU was held to 23.3 field goal percentage (7-of-30) and 4-of-16 3-pointers.
Dakota State kicked off the second-half with a 14-8 run to cut Dickinson State's lead to 40-34 with less than 16 minutes to go in the game.
The Blue Hawks maintained their lead between six- and eight-points for a span of seven minutes before making a run. Leading 46-40, DiSU went on a 12-4 run to regain their double-digit lead at 58-44 after a 3-pointer by Konner Goettsch with 7:21 left.
With the Trojans behind at 71-55, DaSU went on an 11-2 run spurt to cut the Blue Hawks lead to 73-66 with 1:36 remaining (after a 3-pointer by Brendon Boomsma).
Ryan Clark made a basket to put DiSU up 75-66 with 1:20 left. The Trojans quickly answered with a 3-pointer by Keeon Johnson to trim the Blue Hawks' lead to 75-69 with 1:09 left.
Carter Gallo made 1-of-2 free-throw to put Dickinson State up 76-69 with less than 45 seconds remaining. Dakota State followed up with a field goal by Boomsma as they trailed 76-71 with 41 seconds left.
Dickinson State secured the victory as they went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line (a pair by Gallo and a free-throw by Jerry Shelvin) in the final 31 seconds of the game.
DaSU outscored DiSU 51-47 in the second-half. Dickinson State shot 65.4 percent from the field (17-of-26) in the second-half while Dakota State was 47.5 percent (19-of-40).
Kevin Daniels poured in a game-high 33 points for the Trojans. He was 10-of-21 from the field, including 7-of-13 from the 3-point line. He was also 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Folkers tallied 13 points. Johnson scored seven points. McGreal had six points off the bench.
McGreal earned five rebounds for Dakota State. Johnson, Folkers and Maurice Arrington each added four rebounds. Johnson had two blocks.
Johnson and Brady Elder each contributed five assists for DaSU. Arrington had three assists. Arrington and Boomsma each registered two steals.
Five players scored in double digits for the Blue Hawks, led by Marcus White with 23 points (9-of-16 field goals and 5-of-6 free-throws). Clark added 12 points (6-of-8 field goals). Gallo had 11 points. Buler and Austin Payne each scored 10 points.
Clark and Payne each grabbed six rebounds for Dickinson State. White dished out four assists and stole the ball twice. Goettsch had three steals.
Payne registered two blocked shots for DiSU.
Dickinson State shot 51.8 percent overall from the field, converting 29 baskets in 56 attempts. Dakota State was 37.1 percent from the field (26-of-70). The Blue Hawks were 6-of-17 3-pointers (35.3 percent) compared to the Trojans 11-of-40 3-pointers (27.5 percent).
DiSU was 15-of-21 free-throws (71.4 percent). DaSU made 8-of-19 free-throws (80 percent).
The Blue Hawks outrebounded the Trojans 40-36. The Trojans outscored the Blue Hawks 19-8 in second-chance points. DiSU outscored DaSU 36-26 inside the paint.
Dakota State continues their home stand Saturday evening. The Trojans look to halt their losing skid as they host Valley City State (N.D.) in the North Star conference action. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
Dickinson State returns home Monday evening for a non-conference game versus Oglala Lakota (S.D.) at 7 p.m. (Central Time)/6 p.m. (Mountain Time).
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
