Vikings Men, Women BB Sweeps Waldorf, Sat.

FOREST CITY, IOWA   (VCSU)  – Connor Entzi‘s go-ahead basket with 1:58 remaining fueled a late 7-0 run Saturday night as the VCSU men’s basketball team picked up a much-needed victory at Waldorf University.

Trailing 64-63, Entzi put the Vikings ahead for good with his bucket inside. Chris Thompson followed with an old-fashioned 3-point play and the Vikings iced the game away with six free throws in the final 40 seconds of a 74-69 victory.

Valley City State improves to 11-7 overall and 2-3 in conference play, snapping a three-game losing streak with Saturday’s road victory. Waldorf drops to 4-14 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

Waldorf held a 39-32 halftime lead Saturday, but the Vikings outscored the Warriors 42-30 in the second half. VCSU trailed 56-49 with 8:53 remaining, but proceeded to score the next nine points for their first lead of the second half at 58-56 with 6:33 remaining. Waldorf’s Lorenzo Smith gave Waldorf a 64-63 lead with his jumper at 2:17 to go, but it was all Vikings over the final two minutes.

Entzi led the Vikings with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists – all team highs. Chris Thompson scored 13 points and dished out three assists, and Joshua Kelly had 11 points and four rebounds. Uhana Ochan had nine points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench, and Kevin Schramm finished with seven points, five rebounds and two assists.

The Vikings turned the ball over just six times while forcing 11 turnovers in Saturday’s victory.

VCSU shot 41 percent overall (29-71), 17 percent on 3’s (3-18) and 72 percent at the line (13-18). Waldorf finished at 44 percent overall (27-62), 29 percent on 3’s (7-24) and 89 percent on free throws (8-9).

Up next: The Vikings return home for games against Mayville State and Presentation College next weekend, which will compete the first round of conference play and mark the halfway point of the NSAA schedule.

FOREST CITY, IOWA   (VCSU)  – The Valley City State women’s basketball team took its second game of the weekend into overtime, this time coming out with a 74-62 victory over Waldorf University

Waldorf erased a nine-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but the Vikings iced the win by going a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the final minute of the game.

Allie Critchley led four Vikings scoring in double figures Saturday, finishing with 15 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Crichley also went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.

Taryn Dieterle added another double-double on the weekend after posting 13 points and 13 rebounds while adding five steals for VCSU. Ashlyn Diemert and Adriana Torres each chipped in 14 points to round out Vikings scoring in double figures.

VCSU improves to 6-9 on the season and 3-2 in the NSAA. Waldorf drops to 6-11 overall and 0-5 in conference play.

The Vikings started strong and built up an 11-point lead on back-to-back 3’s from Diemert early in the second quarter. The Vikings led 31-27 at halftime and took a nine-point run in the middle of the third quarter to take the largest lead of the game at 46-32.

Waldorf would hold the Vikings scoreless over the final three minutes of regulation while putting up nine points of their own to tie the game at 59-all and force overtime.

The Vikings opened the extra period with a Dieterle 3-pointer to put the Vikings ahead while layups from Torres and Breanna Price expanded the Viking lead to 66-62. Waldorf continued to foul over the final minute but VCSU went 8-for-8 at the line to seal the victory.

Valley City State shot 34 percent from the field on Saturday (25-73), 32 percent from 3-point range (6-19) and 72 percent on free throws (18-25).Waldorf shot 33 percent on field goals (24-73), 16 percent on 3’s (5-32), and 69 percent from the charity stripe (9-13).

VCSU held the rebounding advantage Saturday 46-35, including 12 on the offensive glass. Waldorf totaled 21 assists and 10 steals as a team while committing just 13 turnovers. VCSU finished with 18 assists and nine steals while suffering 22 turnovers.

Waldorf’s Tina Lair-VanMeter led all scorers with 27 points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds for the Warriors.

UP NEXT: VCSU returns home next weekend with conference doubleheaders against Mayville and Presentation. The VCSU women’s basketball team also hosts its Alumni Weekend Jan. 21-23.