VALLEY CITY, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – Logan Nelson poured in a career-high 32 points Friday night as the Valley City State men’s basketball rolled to an 80-62 victory over Dakota State.
Nelson made six 3-pointers in the victory and scored 19 of his points in the second half, helping propel VCSU to its first conference win of the season. The Vikings led the final 27 minutes of the game, taking the lead for good on Connor Entzi‘s basket with 7:07 remaining in the first half. VCSU closed the first half with a 19-9 run to take a 39-30 lead into the break, and then led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
Valley City State improves to 4-11 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Dakota State drops to 4-13 overall and 0-2 in the conference. The win completed a doubleheader sweep for VCSU after the Viking women won the opener on Friday, 82-72.
VCSU’s men have now won three of their last four games. The Vikings are back home Saturday against Bellevue University. The women’s game tips at 3 p.m. with the men to follow at 5 p.m.
On Friday night, Nelson went 13-for-18 from the field and 6-for-10 from 3-point range as he matched his career high with 32 points. After Entzi’s basket put the Vikings ahead 22-21 in the first half, Nelson went on to score 11 of the next 13 Viking points – including three 3-pointers – as VCSU built a 35-27 lead and controlled the game the rest of the way.
“Logan (Nelson) has battled a lot of injuries and sickness before the (holiday) break,” said VCSU coach Ryan Montgomery. “He’s finally fully healthy and what we saw tonight was Logan Nelson at his best.”
Connor Entzi added 13 points and five rebounds for VCSU as he shot 6-for-10 from the field. As a team, VCSU finished the game shooting 49 percent overall (32-65) and 37 percent from 3-point range (10-27).
“I’m very proud of the way we played tonight,” said Montgomery. “We’re capable of shooting better than that, but to still win by as much as we did and control the game the way we did, that shows we’re a good basketball team.”
The Vikings committed just eight turnovers in the game and finished with 13 assists and seven steals. The Vikings won the rebounding battle, 38-31, including a 7-4 edge on the offensive glass. Chris Thompson finished with eight points and two assists, and Hunter McCalla had seven points off the bench. Kevin Schramm posted seven points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Addison finished with a team-high five assists to go along with seven points.
Dakota State had three players score in double figures, including 15 points by forward Josh McGreal. Gare Ewefada had 14 points while Gavin Schipper posted 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Dakota State shot 41 percent overall (24-58), 42 percent on 3’s (11-26) and went 3-for-5 on free throws.
After VCSU went ahead 56-36 about five minutes into the second half, Dakota State chipped away at the lead with its 3-point shooting. The Trojans made six 3-pointers over the next seven minutes of play, cutting VCSU’s lead to 68-59 with 7:22 remaining. The Trojans could get no closer though as VCSU put the game away with a 12-0 run – including 10 straight points by Nelson.
Up next: Valley City State hosts Bellevue on Saturday for a doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m. Dakota State travels to play at Dickinson State on Saturday.
(Photos Courtesy Hannah Anderson/VCSU Athletics)