January 11, 2019

Photos credit by Brenna Winter, VCSU Athletics

VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) and Valley City State (N.D.) went through 11 lead changes and 11 ties Friday evening in the North Star Athletic Association men's basketball conference contest at W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.  The Trojans held off Vikings by the score of 61-59, earning their second straight NSAA conference win.

Dakota State posted their third straight win in the series meeting with Valley City State, their fifth win in the last six meetings.  The Trojans lifted their overall record to 7-13 and moved into a four-way tie for third in the conference standings with a 2-2 record (Dickinson State, N.D.; Mayville State, N.D. and Viterbo, Wis.).  The Vikings fell to 4-11 overall record and 1-3 NSAA record.

VCSU earned the first lead of the game at 2-0 after a basket by Michael Cornelious with eighteen minutes and thirty seconds on the clock. 

DSU then went on to score nine straight points for the largest lead of the game at 9-2 with 15:09 left in the first.  Carson Rentz sparked the scoring run with a 3-pointer, while Justin Folkers added a pair of baskets along with Brady Van Holland's field goal.  DSU made four straight field goals during the run.

The Vikings answered back with a 10-2 run to regain their lead at 12-11 with 10:22 left in the first-half.  Their lead grew to 22-16 with less than five minutes before halftime.

Dakota State rallied back with a 6-0 scoring run to knot the game at 22-22 with 3:22 on the clock after a basket by Folkers.

DSU's Rentz hit a 3-pointer to record the fourth tie of the game at 27-27.  Both teams were unable to score in the final minute of the first-half.

Both teams struggled from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game.  VCSU shot 37.9 percent from the field (11-of-29) compared to DSU 35.5 percent (11-of-31).

DSU and VCSU was unable to establish control for the first fourteen-and-half minutes of the second-half, with the lead no more than three points.  There was a total of seven ties and seven lead changes during that span.

Deadlocked at 49-49, Brady Elder scored five points as part of DSU's 5-0 run to open up a 54-49 lead with 4:26 remaining.

Valley City State trimmed Dakota State's lead down to 56-55 after a basket by Cornelious with less than 55 seconds left.

The Trojans answered back with a 3-pointer by Elder to put the Trojans up 59-55 with about 30 seconds remaining.

Logan Nelson made a pair of free-throws as VCSU trailed 59-57 with less than 15 seconds remaining.  Elder then nailed down a pair of free-throws as DSU widen their lead to 61-57. 

Viking Nelson made a basket with just one second left in the game, but the Trojans secured the victory.

DSU outscored VCSU 34-32 in the final twenty minutes of the game.

Folkers led the Trojans with 16 points (7-of-13 field goals) and pulled down nine rebounds.  He became the ninth all-time scorer in the DSU men's basketball record book with 1,323 career points, surpassing Bill Koerner with 1,313 career points from 1993-97.

Van Holland tallied 15 points and contributed four assists for Dakota State.  Elder added 12 points (6-of-8 free-throws).  Rentz had nine points and grabbed six rebounds.  Elder and Rentz each had a steal.  Cody Muilenburg registered two blocks.

Cornelious posted a double-double of 19 points and earned 14 rebounds for the Vikings.  Nelson added 11 points and seven rebounds.  Denzel Kennedy had three assists.

Dakota State shot 37.5 percent overall from the field (21-of-56) compared to Valley City State 37.3 percent (22-of-59).  The Trojans hit 8-of-25 3-pointers (32 percent), while the Vikings were just 4-of-28 3-pointers (14.3 percent).

DSU converted 11-of-17 free-throws (64.7 percent) compared to VCSU 11-of-13 free-throws (84.6 percent).

Valley City State outrebounded Dakota State 40-29 in the game.  The Vikings outscored the Trojans 7-2 in second-chance points and 28-20 inside the paint.  DSU outscored VCSU 8-4 in points off turnovers.

Dakota State plays another North Star conference road contest Saturday evening, visiting Mayville State (N.D.).  Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville, N.D.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director