December 16, 2023

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) and Hastings (Neb.) battled in a closely-tight men's basketball non-conference contest Saturday evening at DSU Fieldhouse, featuring 11 ties, nine lead changes, and a lead no greater than eight points by both teams.  After DSU took an eight-point halftime lead, the Broncos sparked an early second-half surge to pull away past the Trojans by the score of 72-65.

Dakota State suffered its first home defeat of the season, falling to 10-6 overall record as they closed their non-conference schedule.  Hastings, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference who received votes in the latest NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, lifted their overall record 10-2 after their seventh straight victory.

DSU heads into their Christmas break and won't return to action until after the New Year 2024.  The Trojans kick off their 12-game North Star Athletic Association slate at Bellevue (Neb.) on Saturday, Jan. 6.  Tip-off from the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center in Bellevue, Neb. is set for 3 p.m.

(RV) Hastings (Neb.) 72, Dakota State (S.D.) 65 – FINAL

The teams traded lead to open the game as DSU's Mison Coilton hit a layup for a 2-0 lead, followed by a 3-pointer by HC's Reggie Thomas for a 3-2 lead with nineteen minutes, eleven seconds on the clock.

Dakota State and Hastings struggled offensively as they were scoreless for three-plus minutes before the Trojans went on a scoring outbreak.

Josh Lewis ignited DSU's 8-0 scoring run with back-to-back baskets (3-pointer followed by a 2-point field goal).  Calvin Payne drained a 3-pointer (assisted by Lewis) to give Dakota State their biggest lead of the game at 11-3 with 14:17 on the clock in the first.

Hastings answered with a 12-2 scoring run to regain their lead at 15-13 with less than 11 minutes to go after a 3-pointer by Quinn Johnson.

Knotted at 27-27, Dakota State closed the first half with a 10-2 outburst from three different scorers– Emmanuel Akpan, Brayden Pankonen, and Uzo Dibiamaka – in the final 3:52.

Akpan made a basket inside the paint after an offensive rebound to give the Trojans a 37-29 halftime lead.

Dakota State shot 48.4 percent from the field in the first twenty minutes (15-of-31 field goals) and held Hastings to 37 percent (10-of-27 field goals).  The Trojans used a balanced scoring attack with nine different players scoring in the first half.

The Broncos fueled a 12-2 scoring run to kick off the second half, thanks to their 5-of-6 field goals.  Tyrique McMurrin made a basket as Hastings regained their lead to 41-39 with 16:37 remaining.

Both teams battled back and forth with a lead no greater than six points by HC, along with seven ties and three lead changes for more than 13 minutes.

Trailing 60-54, Dibiamaka hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the Trojans rallied back to record the 11^th tie of the game at 60-60 with 3:05 left.

The Broncos extended their lead to 66-61 as Anthony Thompson hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 to go in the game.

DSU's Akpan trimmed HC's lead to 66-63 with 1:21 remaining after hitting a pair of free-throws.

Hastings closed the game with a 6-2 run in the final 55 seconds after going 6-of-9 at the free-throw line.  Thomas hit a pair of free-throws as the Broncos earned the biggest lead of the game at 71-63 with less than 25 seconds to go in the game.

Hastings outscored Dakota State 43-28 in the second half.  The Broncos shot 13-of-26 from the field in the final twenty minutes (50 percent) and hit 13-of-15 free-throws.  Dakota State was 40 percent from the field (10-of-25 field goals) and 5-of-8 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Coilton led the Trojans' balanced scoring attack with 15 points after going 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 free-throws.  He grabbed four rebounds and contributed two assists.  Akpan added 12 points and four rebounds.

Dibiamaka and Lewis each added nine points for DSU.  Dibiamaka grabbed four rebounds, while Lewis had three rebounds.  Pankonen scored six points and dished out three assists.  Payne tallied six points and collected four rebounds. 

Japjit Gill recorded five rebounds and two steals for Dakota State.  Uhana Ochan tallied four points, three rebounds, and a blocked shot.

Thomas poured in a game-high 33 points on his 9-of-18 field goals and hit 11-of-12 free-throws for Hastings.  He also had six rebounds and four assists.  Grady Corrigan added 14 points and seven rebounds. 

McMurrin and Danilo Matovic each had six rebounds for the Broncos.  McMurrin had two blocked shots, while Matovic added a block.  Quinn Johnson scored six points off the bench.

The overall stats between Dakota State and Hastings were almost evenly matched.  DSU shot 44.6 percent overall from the field (25-of-56 field goals) compared to HC 43.4 percent (23-of-53 field goals).  The Trojans made nine 3-pointers in 24 tries, while the Broncos hit 7-of-18 3-pointers. 

Hastings made 13 more free-throws (19-of-22 free-throws) than Dakota State (6-of-10 free-throws). 

Both teams collected 32 rebounds in the game and scored four fastbreak points.

Dakota State outscored Hastings 28-22 inside the paint and 21-10 in bench points.