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CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – The Viking and Jimmie basketball teams added another chapter to their storied rivalry Friday night in Valley City.
The University of Jamestown ended overtime with a 13-5 run Friday, rallying for an 89-86 victory over the Vikings in North Star men’s basketball action. VCSU scored the first five points of overtime, building an 81-76 lead with 3:30 remaining. It would not hold up though as Jamestown hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions and took the lead for good on Jon Purintun’s free throws with 44 seconds to go.
The overtime contest capped two great games during the men’s and women’s doubleheader, both of which went to Jamestown by a combined four points. Jamestown won the women’s game by a score of 53-52.
Valley City State’s men drop to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in the North Star Athletic Association. Jamestown improves to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in the NSAA.
The final 13 minutes of play Friday night was pure, edge-of-your-seat excitement as the teams traded big shot after big shot, changing leads 11 times over the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime.
VCSU guard Alex Quist went 1-for-2 at the line with 16 seconds left in regulation, tying the game at 76-76 and forcing overtime. The Vikings scored the first five points of overtime, getting a 15-foot bank shot by Jayden Ferguson and right-wing 3 from Rashad Satahoo to take a 81-76 lead with 3:30 remaining.
Jamestown responded with 3-pointers on three straight possessions by Jon Purintun, Sam Johnson and Kevin Oberweiser, grabbing their first lead of overtime at 85-84 with 1:35 to go.
Ferguson regained the lead for VCSU inside, scoring with 1:15 left. An offensive rebound led to two free throws for Purintun and a 87-86 Jamestown lead with 44 seconds left. The Vikings failed to convert baskets on their next three possessions and Jamestown hung on for the 89-86 victory.
Valley City State shot 51 percent from the field (34-67), 58 percent on 3’s (7-12) and 65 percent at the free throw line (11-17). Jamestown finished the game at 49 percent overall (32-65), 48 percent on 3’s (10-21) and 71 percent on free throws (15-21). The Jimmies went 3-for-3 on 3-point attempts in overtime.
VCSU guard Rashad Satahoo went 5-for-5 on 3’s and scored 21 points for the Vikings. Austin Dunbar posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Viking senior forward Jayden Ferguson scored 20 points as he moved into third place all-time on the VCSU scoring list, surpassing Bob Price (1,835 points) and finishing the night with 1,848 career points.
Leighton Sampson led the Jimmies with game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jon Purintun addd 22 points and five assists. Sam Johnson, Kevin Oberweiser and Christian Kvilvang combined to make eight 3-pointers and score 33 points.
Leading 18-16 with 11:10 left in the first half, VCSU scored the next eight points to build a 26-16 lead. Satahoo’s back-to-back 3’s gave the Vikings their biggest lead of the game at 32-20 with 6:52 remaining in the first half.
The Vikings again pushed their lead to 12 points in the second half, going up 47-35 on Alex Quist’s 3-pointer with 17:30 remaining. The Jimmies responded with the next eight points, cutting the lead to 47-43 before Viking forward Austin Dunbar scored inside to end the Jimmie run.
Jamestown took its first lead of the second half at 63-62 on Leighton Sampson’s basket inside with 7:30 on the clock. Christian Kvilvang came off the bench to hit two big 3’s during Jamestown’s climb back into the game, including one with 6:43 to go that gave the Jimmies a 66-64 advantage.
From there, the teams traded big shots and leads the rest of the way. Off a dish from Purintun, Sampson threw down a two-handed jam with 2:40 to go, putting the Jimmies up three at 76-73. Jayden Ferguson scored on a turnaround jumper on VCSU’s next possession. Several defensive stops gave VCSU chances to take the lead in the final two minutes, but the Vikings could not convert. Quist was fouled with 15.9 seconds remaining and went 1-for-2 at the line to tie the game at 76-76. Jamestown was unable to get a shot off in the final seconds, sending the game to overtime.
Up next: Valley City State (4-9, 0-3 NSAA) hosts Presentation College on Saturday for a 3/5 p.m. doubleheader. Jamestown (10-5, 1-3 NSAA) has a break until Dec. 30 when the Jimmies will play an exhibition game at North Dakota State.