From VCSU Athletics
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – The Valley City State men’s basketball team opened the second half with a 14-point run to pull away from Waldorf University en route to a 76-56 victory Friday night at the Bubble.
Jalen Addison‘s six 3-pointers and 21 points off the bench helped the Vikings to the 20-point win. Valley City State improves to 14-9 overall and 5-5 in conference play while Waldorf drops to 4-19 overall and 2-8 in the NSAA.
Waldorf opened with a 13-4 lead after the Vikings opened shooting just 2-for-15 in the first nine minutes. The Vikings saw shots begin to fall and after a tie game at 18, Addison took off to score the next nine points. Addison later broke another tie with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to help the Vikings to a 32-29 advantage at halftime.
The Vikings opened the second half with 14 straight points and went on to shoot 53 percent in the second half to hold on the rest of the way. The Vikings maintained control of the game and finished with 18 more shots than the Warriors Friday.
“When we shot 32 percent in the first half it didn’t feel good, but the flood gates opened in the second half and I’m appreciative of that,” said head coach Ryan Montgomery. “It just shows our explosiveness.”
The Vikings finished Friday’s game shooting 42 percent from the field (30-72), 32 percent on 3-pointers (12-38) and 80 from the free throw line (4-5). Waldorf shot 41 percent on field goals (22-54), 17 percent on 3’s (3-18) and 82 percent on free throws (9-11).
VCSU finished with 11 steals and forced 20 Waldorf turnovers while only committing seven turnovers in the game.
The Vikings totaled 20 assists as a team Friday led by Josh Kelly (5) and Tate Hebrink (4). Addison scored half of VCSU’s 42 bench points while Duoth Gach added 10 bench points. Kevin Schramm finished with 13 points to round out Vikings scoring in double figures.
“Forcing 20 turnovers to only our seven was good, and we got production off our bench,” said Montgomery. “Obviously having Jalen Addison off the bench right now is pretty good.”
After back-to-back wins for the Viking men, VCSU will face Viterbo University (12-11, 6-4 NSAA) Saturday at the Bubble. Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“Viterbo is a tough basketball team that really understands our pressure,” said Montgomery. “They know how to play against us. We’ve given up a lot of points to them, so we have to be a determined bunch to sit down and guard and not give up layups against them tomorrow.”