VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) The VCSU Viking basketball teams split their weekend crossover event with teams from the Frontier Conference at Dickinson State.
Friday:
Viking women 74, Montana State-Northern 53
VCSU women’s basketball rallied in the second half for a big come from behind victory over Montana State University Northern Friday at the Dickinson State Thanksgiving Classic.
The Vikings were held to just 10 points in the first quarter against Montana State University Northern. With 2:29 on the clock, MSUN’s Canzas Hisbadhorse knocked down a two that improved its lead to 14-7. Abby Aslesen then got to the line and made both her free throws to narrow the gap. A few plays later with one free throw from Olivia Backus, the Vikings had made it back within four.
In the first the Vikings shot 2-14 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. MSUN had found a little more success shooting 6-13 from the field and 1-2 from the free throw line.
Early in the second quarter, the Viking briefly took the lead at 21-20 after a layup from Tilda Mauritzson. After that basket the Skylights went on a 12-1 run capturing their largest lead of the day at 32-22. After a couple points each, the half ended 34-24 in favor of MSUN.
In the second both scored with a little more efficiency that the first quarter. The Vikings tallied 14 and MSUN tallied 20 bringing the score to 34-24 in favor of the Skylights. In the second the Vikings shot 5-12 and 3-7 from the free throw line. The Skylights shot 8-22 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line.
Right out of the gate in the third quarter, the Vikings started chipping away at MSUN’s 10-point lead. Madison Spacher opened the quarter with a quick layup, which was followed up by a two by Aslesen. A few possessions later with the score of 39-35, Ashlyn Diemert came up with a steal and a basket. She then followed that up with a three on the next possession to give the Vikings their first lead of the second half at 40-39. Both teams battled out the remainder of the third quarter which ended with the Vikings leading 49-47.
The Vikings outscored the Skylights 25-13 in the third, taking back the lead after being down by ten points. They shot 11-22 from the field, 2-3 from the three-point line, and 1-3 from the free throw line. The skylights were 4-15 from the field, 0-3 from the three-point line, and 5-10 from the free throw line.
The Vikings opened the fourth with a 16-0 run started by Aslesen who got to the line and hit a pair of free throws. She followed that up with a layup on the next possession. From there, the Vikings continued to press on both ends of the court and grew their lead to 22 with 2:24 left in the quarter. They closed the game with a 74-53 victory.
In the fourth, the Vikings scored 25 points shooting 8-13 from the field and 8-9 from the free throw line. The skylights were held to six points shooting 2-13 and 2-4 from the free throw line.
The Vikings were led by Ashlyn Diemert scoring 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. She was followed by Abby Aslesen who had 18 points, six rebounds, one block, one steal, and was an impressive 10-11 from the free throw line.
Viking men 68, Montana State-Northern 60
It took a little while for each team to find some offense. The Vikings took the first two possession lead of the game a seven-point run moving from down 6-4 to up 11-6. Leo Sewell knocked down a three to stop the Viking run. The Vikings grew that lead back to 16-9 after a three made by Jayden Patcha.
Later in the half, the Vikings found another seven-point run making the lead 23-13. MSUN responded quickly scoring six unanswered, making it 23-19. Closing the first half the MSUN cut VCSU’s lead to one making the score 33-32.
In the second half the Vikings created some separation after a three-point play by Agwa Nywesh. With a 42-37 lead Lamar Grayson made a pair of free throws and a two-point field goal in the next possession creating the biggest lead of the game at 46-37.
The Viking men kept a six-to-ten-point lead for most of remainder of the second half. With 1:24 left in the contest MSUN made a couple free throws that closed the gap to six. Cinque Maxwell created a steal that resulted in another basket and then the gap was only four with 53 seconds remaining. With the score 62-58 Lamar Grayson was sent to the line and hit a couple of clutch free throws. After Caden Grinde generated a steal and put the game away with a two-pointer with 20 seconds remaining. The game ended 68-60.
VCSU was led by Lamar Grayson who tallied 20 points, five rebounds, one assist and steal. He was followed by Tyrel Creger who scored 12 points, three rebounds, one assist and steal. VCSU shot 45% from the field, 32% from the three-point line, and 62% from the free throw line.
Saturday:
Rocky Mountain College 82, Viking women 61
The Vikings held close with the Battlin’ Bears through three quarters of play, but Rocky pulled away in the final 10 minutes, outscoring VCSU 18-6, to take the double-figure win. VCSU drops to 7-4 on the season while Rocky improves to 6-2.
After trailing 14-7 early, VCSU finished the final 2:38 of the first quarter with a 7-4 run to trail 18-14 at the end of the first frame. The Vikings opened the second quarter with a 19-8 run capped by a a 3-pointer by Madison Spacher to hold a 33-26 lead, and it’s largest lead of the game, with 4:03 to go in the half. From there, RMC pulled back with a13-2 rally to hold a 39-35 advantage at halftime.
The Vikings held close early in the second half with the help of 11 Abby Aslesen points, but RMC began to pull away over the final six minutes of the third quarter. The Bears held an 11-point lead at 61-50 on a basket by Iliana Moran, but VCSU kept within single-digits to end the quarter trailing 64-55. Rocky then held VCSU to shooting just 17 percent from the field in the fourth quarter to pull away with the 82-61 win.
VCSU shot 34 percent from the field (20-59), 30 percent from 3-point range (7-23) and 74 percent on free throws (14-19). RMC shot 49 percent on field goals (30-61), 45 percent on 3’s (9-20) and 68 percent on free throws (13-19).
Rocky Mountain led the rebounding effort 50-26 and totaled 19 second chance points. VCSU scored 17 points off of 17 Rocky Mountain turnovers, while RMC totaled just eight points off of nine Viking turnovers in the game.
Abby Aslesen scored 13 points while Ellie Braaten added 12, including three 3-pointers. JayCee Richter scored 10 points for VCSU, and Elyse Hebrink grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Rocky Mountain 79, Viking men 72
The Vikings tied the game at 72-72 on a Lamar Grayson free throw with 2:13 to play, but Rocky sealed the win with strong defensive stops down the stretch. VCSU falls to 7-3 on the season while Rocky improves to 5-1 overall.
VCSU started strong over the first five minutes with a 17-8 advantage capped by a bucket from LaDarious Stanfield. The Vikings held onto the lead until a basket from RMC’s Carter McCoy tied the game at 25-25 with 7:40 left in the first half. Rocky Mountain then led by as much as nine points on a 3-pointer from Royce Robinson to lead 44-35 with under a minute to go. A Caden Grinde 3-pointer helped VCSU to trail just 44-40 at halftime.
VCSU chipped away at the RMC lead early in the second half and secured a 58-56 advantage on a 3 by Tyrel Creger with 12:57 to play. A bucket from Ousseynou Ngom gave the Vikings a 62-56 advantage and its biggest lead of the half with 10:26 to go.
From there, Rocky pulled back into the lead at 69-66 after Royce Robinson scored a layup and a 3-pointer with 5:21 on the clock. The Vikings and Battlin’ Bears traded the lead two more times, and Grayson’s free throw tied the game at 72-72 with 2:13 left in the game. Omari Nesbit’s bucket gave RMC a 74-72 advantage, and a 3-pointer from Jesse Owens gave the Battlin’ Bears additional insurance with a minute to go. The Vikings fouled to earn additional possessions, but Rocky made clutch defensive stops to hold on for the 79-72 win.
VCSU shot 41 percent from the field Saturday (27-66), 31 percent from 3-point range (9-29) and 69 percent on free throws (9-13). RMC shot 60 percent on field goals (33-55), 37 percent on 3’s (7-19) and 67 percent on free throws (6-9). Rocky held a 43-22 rebounding advantage Saturday.
Rocky totaled 19 assists and 24 turnovers while VCSU recorded 15 assists and 10 turnovers in the game. The Vikings posted 30 points off RMC’s 24 turnovers.
Creger led the Vikings with 15 points, four assists and three steals in Saturday’s game. Grayson added 13 points and Grinde totaled 10 for VCSU. Odier Olange finished with nine points and a team-high four rebounds while Shaheed Muhammad added eight points. Muhammad and Agwa Nywesh each recorded four steals for VCSU.
UP NEXT: VCSU hosts Trinity Bible College for a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, Dec. 3. The women are slated to tip at 5 p.m. followed by the men at 7 p.m.