February 9, 2018

MAYVILLE, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) and Mayville State (N.D.) battled back-and-forth with ten ties and eight lead changes Friday evening in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Men's Basketball conference action at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.  Knotted 39-39 at halftime, the Trojans outscored the Comets 40-30 in the second-half to earn a 79-69 victory.

Dakota State, who earned their fourth straight victory coupled with the forfeit victory versus Grace (Neb.) on Feb. 10, improved their overall record to 14-15 and 7-8 record in North Star conference play.  Mayville State, receiving votes in the latest NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, suffered their third straight NSAA defeat and fell to 14-8 overall record and 7-6 in league play.

The Trojans are currently in the fifth-place in the rugged North Star conference, one game behind the Comets for fourth-place.

Dakota State raced to a 7-0 lead after going 3-of-3 from the field from three different scorers – Kevin Daniels, Justin Folkers and Brendon Boomsma.  The Comets were forced to burn their first timeout of the game with eighteen minutes, thirteen seconds on the clock.

Coming out of the timeout, Mayville State answered with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 7-7 with 16:15 to go in the first-half.

Tied at 19-19, MSU went on an 11-4 run to gain the biggest lead of the first-half at 30-23 with 5:35 remaining before intermission.  DSU responded back with an 11-2 run to regain their lead at 34-32 after basket by Daniels with 1:29 on the clock.

A 3-pointer by Folkers gave the Trojans a 39-36 lead with less than five seconds to go.  Gorg Alhag would answer with a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer as the Comets tied the game at 39-39.

DSU shot 54.5 percent from the field (18-of-33) in the first-half compared to MSU 50 percent (16-of-32).  Mayville State was 7-of-16 from the 3-point line, while Dakota state was 3-of-7 3-pointers.  A total of eight ties and six lead changes were registered in the first twenty minutes of the game.

With the tenth tie of the game recorded at 45-45, Folkers went on to score seven consecutive points as the Trojans opened up with a 52-45 lead with 14:28 to go in the game. 

Alhag drained a 3-pointer as the Comets reduced Trojans' lead to 57-54 with less than ten minutes left.  DSU would answered with a basket by Bobby Farquah and a 3-pointer by Keeon Johnson to widen their lead to 62-54 with 8:49 remaining.

Mayville State could get no closer than four points as Dakota State secured the game by closing the game strong.  The Trojans maintained their lead between six- and nine-point for a span of four minutes.

DSU earned its first double-digit lead of the game at 76-66 after a basket by Maurice Arrington with 2:18 left.

Dakota State shot a sizzling 53.3 percent from the field in the second-half (16-of-30) and made 4-of-7 3-pointers.  Mayville State was held to 44.4 percent (12-of-27 field goals) and 3-of-11 from the 3-point arc in the final twenty minutes of the game.

Daniels poured in a game-high 24 points for the Trojans.  He was 11-of-17 from the field.  Folkers added 19 points (8-of-14 field goals).  Boomsma and Farquah each tallied 11 points.  Johnson had seven points.

Johnson pulled down eight rebounds and registered a block for DSU.  Farquah added five rebounds and a block.  He stole the ball three times.  Arrington, Boomsma and Daniels each contributed three assists. 

Eric Staebler led the Comets with 16 points on his 8-of-12 field goal shooting.  Alhag added 15 points.  Creighton Pfau pulled down seven rebounds. 

Daniel Lindgren and Michael Slaba each dished out four assists for MSU. 

Dakota State shot 54 percent overall from the field (34-of-63) compared to Mayville State 47.5 percent (28-of-59).  The Comets were 10-of-27 from the 3-point line (37 percent), while the Trojans were 7-of-14 3-pointers (50 percent). 

DSU was 4-of-8 free-throws compared to MSU 3-of-4 free-throws.

The Comets outrebounded the Trojans 32-28 in the game.  Mayville State committed 17 turnovers compared to Dakota State eight turnovers.  The Trojans outscored the Comets 15-2 in points off turnovers.

Dakota State concludes their regular-season schedule next Saturday, visiting Bellevue (Neb.) in the North Star Athletic Association conference contest.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. from Gordon Lozier Athletic Center in Bellevue, Neb.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director