January 29, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
MADISON, S.D. - The Dakota State University Trojan men's basketball team (14-5 overall record, 9-5 Frontier Conference) concludes their month of January with a pair of Frontier conference games in North Dakota.  The Trojans visit Valley City State (N.D.) (8-11 overall record, 4-10 Frontier record) Friday evening at Clair T. Blikre Activities Center (800 6th Street N) in Wahpeton, N.D., on the campus of North Dakota State College of Science.

DSU travels to Lewy Lee Fieldhouse (330 NE 3rd Street) on Saturday evening for another Frontier Conference contest, taking on Mayville State (N.D.) (7-14 overall record, 3-11 Frontier record) in Mayville, N.D.

Both contests are set to tip off at 7 p.m.

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State wraps up the month of January with a pair of Frontier Conference games on the road.  They will make their final trip to the state of North Dakota.

*The Trojans were originally scheduled to play at W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse versus Valley City State (N.D.) on Friday.  The game was moved to Wahpeton, N.D., on the campus of North Dakota School of Science due to water damage on VCSU's basketball court.

*DSU and VCSU had alternated wins in the previous five meetings in the series meeting, with the Trojans winning the last meeting 77-62 at DSU Fieldhouse on Dec. 6.

*Dakota State had won three times in the last four meetings with Mayville State (N.D.), including the previous two meetings.  DSU won the last meeting 93-67 at DSU Fieldhouse on Dec. 5.

*The Trojans won the last two Frontier road contests, which were held in the state of North Dakota.  Dakota State defeated Bismarck State (N.D.) 71-55 on Jan. 9 and Dickinson State (N.D.) 78-74 on Jan. 10.
 

Scoring Offense	80.4	74.4	80.1
Scoring Defense	83.3	62.8	76.8
Scoring Margin	-2.9	11.6	3.3
Field Goal %	.457	.491	.488
Field Goal Def. %	.494	.421	.439
Free Throw %	.706	.694	.638
Rebounds Per Game	35.2	35.4	35.1
Rebounds Margin	3.2	7.3	-0.5
3-point FGs Made Per Game	8.6	7.3	6.4
3-point FG %	.356	.385	.355
Assists Per Game	12.1	13.6	14.9
Blocks Per Game	1.3	2.0	2.9

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Ryan Montgomery is the head coach for the Valley City State men's basketball team. This is his 10th season leading the Vikings. He is a graduate of Hamline (Minn.) in St. Paul.

VCSU began their season by rattling off four straight wins coming into conference play, taking down NCAA Division III Minnesota-Morris, Mount Marty (S.D.), Doane (Neb.), and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.).  The Vikings then dropped their next seven contests going into the holiday break, losing decisions to Mayville State (N.D.), Montana Western twice, Montana Tech twice, Bellevue (Neb.), Dakota State (S.D.), and Dakota Wesleyan.

The Vikings split their conference weekend to the start of the New Year, losing to MSU-Northern and earning their first ever Frontier Conference victory against Providence (Mont.).  After dropping a pair of games against (RV) Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and (15) Carroll (Mont.), the Vikings have won three games in a row coming into this weekend, besting Dickinson State (N.D.), Bismarck State (N.D.) and Mayville State (N.D.).

Valley City State is third in the Frontier Conference in offensive rebounding at 10.9 per game. The Vikings also rank third in total rebounding (34.5).

Friday's contest is the second Frontier Conference meeting for DSU and VCSU in the regular season. Dakota State defeated Valley City State 77-62 in the first meeting this season at DSU Fieldhouse. DSU leads the all-time series 17-13 in the last 30 meetings.

SCOUTING THE COMETS
Brandon McGruder is currently in his fourth season as the head coach at Mayville State with an overall record of 63-26.  He is the fastest coach to reach 50 wins in MSU men's basketball history.

The Comets enter this weekend's contests with an overall record of 7-12 and 3-11 record in the Frontier Conference.  MSU's seven wins all came at home at Lewy Fieldhouse, including three league contests.  The Comets are 7-5 record at home and 0-7 record on the road this season.

Mayville State snapped their 10-game losing streak in the Frontier Conference after earning a pair of home victories, defeating Dickinson State (N.D.) 80-76 on Jan. 16 and Bismarck State (N.D.) 85-59 on Jan. 19.

The Comets are coming off from their 78-72 setback to their traveling partner Valley City State on Jan. 24 in Moorhead, Minn., on the campus of Concordia-Moorhead.

Dakota State has held a series record of 25-23 in the last 48 meetings since Dec. 6, 2026.  The Trojans defeated the Comets 86-75 in the last meeting held at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in the North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament's quarterfinals.

The Trojans won the last two road meetings with Mayville State (N.D.) at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse last season.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State came up short to close their Frontier Conference's three-game home stand on Jan. 23, falling to their traveling partner Bellevue (Neb.) 71-54.  The Bruins used a strong second half and balanced scoring attack to pull away for the victory.

Bellevue and Dakota State battled back and forth in the early going of the first half.  The Bruins jumped to a four-point lead before the Trojans earned their first lead of the game.  Trailing 13-9, DSU went on an 8-2 scoring run to overtake a 17-15 lead after Nathan Ojukwu's 3-pointer (assisted by Brayden Pankonen) with 9:48 on the clock.  

Dakota State's lead was short lived as Bellevue went on a 7-0 scoring run, erasing a 20-19 deficit into a 26-20 lead with 4:42 left in the first half.  DSU kept pace early and trailed 33-29 at the break.  The first half saw four lead changes and one tie.

Bellevue continued their scoring run to 9-0 in the second half, posting the first double digit lead at 39-29 with 19:09 and never trailed in the game.  The Bruins led as many as 20 points in the game.  

Ojuwku led the Trojans with 18 points and six rebounds.  Lukas Morgan added 12 points.  Pankonen tallied five points and seven rebounds.

DSU shot 38.8 percent from the field (19-of-49 field goals) and outscored BU 29-18 in bench points.  The Bruins shot 50 percent (27-of-54 field goals) in the game.

TROJANS IN THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Thursday, Dakota State ranks second in the Frontier Conference in defense scoring during league contests.  The Trojans held the Frontier Conference's opponents to 65.3 points per game prior to this weekend's games.  DSU is also second in the conference in field goal percentage defense, limiting the league's opponents to 44.0 percent from the field (339-of-770 field goals).  

Dakota State is fifth in the Frontier Conference in assists per game with 12.9 assists per game in 14 league games.  The Trojans are also tied for second in the league with 2.6 blocks per game and third in steals per game with 7.5 steals in the Frontier Conference contests.

Nathan Ojukwu leads the Frontier Conference overall with 8.2 rebounds per game.  He is also fourth in scoring offense, averaging 19.1 points per game.  Brayden Pankonen ranks third in the league with 38 total steals.  Ryan Beckwith ranks fourth in the Frontier Conference with 46.4 percent from the 3-point line (26-of-56 3-point field goals).

FRONTIER CONFERENCE NEARS POSTSEASON TIME
There are a total of eight conference regular season contests remaining in the Frontier Conference before their postseason tournament.  The league closes the month of January with a pair of games this weekend, followed by three straight weekends of two games (Friday-Saturday) through Feb. 21.

Dakota State has four road contests and four home contests remaining on their 2025-26 regular season schedule.  After heading to North Dakota for the final time this weekend, the Trojans return home to DSU Fieldhouse next weekend versus No. 23 ranked Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Feb. 6 in the White-Out theme and Carroll (Mont.) in Law Enforcement Appreciation Night on Feb. 7.

DSU heads to Montana on the weekend of Feb. 13-14, visiting Montana Western and Montana Tech.  The Trojans play their final home regular season games versus Dickinson State (N.D.) and Bismarck State (N.D.) on Feb. 20-21.

The top eight teams in the Frontier Conference standings will play in the conference's postseason tournament to be held at the Civic Center in Butte, Mont.  The top two seeds (No. 1 and No. 2 seeds) will play against the bottom two seeds (No. 7 and No. 8 seeds) in the first two quarterfinal contests on Friday, Feb. 27.  The other two quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, Feb. 28 for No. 3 through No. 6 seeds.

The semifinals are set for Monday, March 1, with the championship game scheduled for Tuesday, March 2 at 8 p.m. (CT)/7 p.m. (MT).  The winner of the postseason tournament will receive the second automatic bid to the national tournament.

2025-26 DSU Trojan Men's Basketball Team Leaders

• Points/Points Per Game: Nathan Ojukwu – 363 points (19.1 points per game)
• Field Goal Percentage: Taine Mitchell – 58.8 percent (30-of-51 field goals)
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage: Ryan Beckwith – 46.4 percent (26-of-56 3-point field goals)
• Free-Throw Percentage: Brayden Pankonen – 81.4 percent (35-of-43 free-throws)
• Rebounds: Nathan Ojukwu – 155 rebounds (8.2 rebounds per game)
• Assists/Assists Per Game: Nathan Ojukwu – 55 assists/2.9 assists per game
• Steals/Steals Per Game: Brayden Pankonen – 38 steals/2.0 steals per game
• Blocked Shots: Aiden Jensen – 13 blocked shots (0.8 blocks per game)