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(NewsDakota.com)- It wasn’t the prettiest night of basketball at the Civic Center, but it was certainly entertaining. The women played in a defensive slug fest that was won by Valley City State 54-48. The Viking men rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final five minutes to force overtime, but couldn’t finish it off losing to the Jamestown College men 66-65.
It appeared in the first eight minutes of the women’s game that the Jimmies were on there way to another impressive first half start, but once JC got up 14 the tempo shifted. The Vikings closed the gap to just five heading into the break.
Alyssa Hummel and Brittany Lehner scored the first eight in the second half as Valley City St. started on a 10-2 run. Hummel scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Vikings.
Carly Jensen hit a big three for the Jimmies to tie the game at 48-48 and she had another chance to give the Jimmies a lead, but her shot was blocked. Courtney Titus hit four free throws for Valley City in the final 20 seconds to close out the game.
The Jimmies shot just 23% from the field and had no players in double-figures.
In the men’s game the Jimmies were up 12 with just over five minutes remaining when Sekani Milligan turned it on. The Viking leading scorer had just four points up to this point, but would finish with 17.
Milligan scored 11 points to rally Valley City as they forced overtime. The Jimmies did have a chance to win it on the final possession but Mark Hoge missed a run from a tough angle.
Hoge’s free throws with 9.7 seconds left in overtime put Jamestown up one and giving VCSU a final possession. But Sekani Milligan couldn’t get a shot off as he lost the ball with the time hitting zero.
Davon Thomas had 19 to lead the Jimmies, Hoge finished with 18. Gus Keuber (16) and Aaron Duske (15) joined Milligan as the three Vikings in double-figures.
Jamestown College and Valley City St. could meet again in the upcoming AII National Qualifying Tournament.
All four teams will host South Dakota Mines this weekend. The Vikings will play Saturday at 2pm/4pm and the Jimmies at the same times Sunday.