Women…<\/p>\n
DICKINSON, N.D.\u00a0 (VCSU)\u00a0 \u2013 Five Vikings scored in double figures Friday night as the VCSU women’s basketball team won its fourth straight game, going on the road and defeating Dickinson State 75-63.<\/p>\n
The Vikings led 36-32 at halftime before pulling away in the second half, outscoring the Blue Hawks 39-31 over the final 20 minutes of play.<\/p>\n
Valley City State improves to 8-9 overall and 5-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. Dickinson State drops to 9-12 overall and 2-4 in the NSAA.<\/p>\n
Friday’s win keeps the Vikings tied with Mayville State for first place in the North Star Athletic Association. The Comets defeated Presentation College on Friday to keep pace with the Vikings.<\/p>\n
Sophomore guard Gabby Martin<\/a> poured in 15 points to lead Valley City State’s balanced attack. Martin went 7-for-8 at the free throw line and also led the team with four assists. Dierra Diegel<\/a> had 13 points \u2013 all in the first half \u2013 and a team-high six rebounds, while Hannah Schlecht<\/a> finished with 12 points and two steals. Martin, Diegel and Schlecht each made two 3-pointers in the game.<\/p>\n Alli Vandal<\/a> added 12 points and Mackenzie Huber<\/a> finished with 11. The pair combined to shoot 10-for-13 from the field. Freshman Alexis Bentz<\/a> added six points, four rebounds and two assists off the bench.<\/p>\n Valley City State shot 43 percent overall (26-60) in the road victory. VCSU was 6-for-25 on 3-pointers and 17-for-22 at the free throw line. The Vikings finished with 13 assists, 10 steals and 12 turnovers. VCSU forced Dickinson State into 20 turnovers in the game.<\/p>\n Dickinson State finished the game shooting 42 percent overall (22-52), 42 percent on 3’s (10-24) and 75 percent at the line (9-12). Riley Helmick led Dickinson State with 15 points on five 3-pointers. Four different Blue Hawks scored in double figures.<\/p>\n Up next: <\/strong>Valley City State wraps up the first round of conference play Saturday with a doubleheader at Presentation College. The women play at 3 p.m. Saturday in Aberdeen, S.D., while the men follow at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Men…<\/p>\n DICKINSON, N.D. \u2013 The Valley City State men’s basketball team built a 15-point second half lead and then held on in the final minute to defeat Dickinson State University on Friday night, 84-77.<\/p>\n The Blue Hawks cut the Viking lead to four points in the last minute, but VCSU senior Christian Kvilvang<\/a> went 4-for-4 at the free throw line\u00a0to ice the game in the final 30 seconds and complete a doubleheader sweep for the Vikings. Valley City State improves to 5-12 overall and 2-4 in the NSAA. Dickinson State drops to 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the NSAA.<\/p>\n The Vikings led 39-30 at halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Hunter McCalla<\/a>, and then led the entire second half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Denzel Kennedy<\/a> and Michael Cornelious<\/a> gave VCSU its biggest lead of the game at 58-43 with 12:07 remaining.<\/p>\n Each time Dickinson started to creep back over the next nine minutes, VCSU would find the answer. After Dickinson cut the Viking lead to nine, VCSU freshman Hunter Sand<\/a> hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to push the lead back to 69-57 with 6:48 to go. The Blue Hawks again cut it to nine points, but Connor Entzi<\/a> hit a 15-foot jumper with 2:45 to go to put the Vikings back up 77-66.<\/p>\n The Blue Hawks finally made their last push with a quick 7-0 run, capped by a Kenny Jackson 3-pointer that cut the Viking lead to 77-73 with 1:37 remaining. Again the Vikings got a big hoop from Entzi, who drove to the left block and scored to push the lead to six points. Entzi later drew a charge after Dickinson cut the lead to 79-75 in the final minute, and then Christian Kvilvang<\/a> put the game out of reach with four straight free throws down the stretch.<\/p>\n “They guys played really hard tonight,” said VCSU head coach Ryan Montgomery<\/a>. “We went through some adversity this week, and our guys responded with an extreme effort tonight. I’m proud of our guys.”<\/p>\n Sophomore guard Logan Nelson<\/a> poured in 23 points to lead the Viking offensive attack. Nelson went 8-for-15 shooting and pulled down a team-high nine\u00a0rebounds. Junior Michael Cornelious<\/a> came up huge with another big all-around performance. Cornelious shot 8-for-11 from the field as he finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n