From VCSU Athletics

MADISON, S.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – The Valley City State men’s basketball team erased a 19-point second half deficit to finish with a 69-65 victory over Dakota State on Saturday in Madison.

Kevin Schramm scored 15 second-half points to help the comeback effort. The Vikings also used a 18-0 run – including eight points from Daevonte Munson – to take over the lead.

The Vikings improve to 16-10 on the season and 7-6 in conference play. Dakota State falls to 12-16 overall and 7-6 in the NSAA. The two now sit in a three-way tie with Mayville State for third place in the NSAA standings with one game left in the regular season.

Dakota State shot 51 percent in the first half of Saturday’s game to build a 38-24 advantage at halftime. With Dakota State leading 43-24, a 3-pointer from Duoth Gach sparked the second half comeback effort for the Vikings.

Trailing 34-49 with 11:34 to go, the Vikings exploded with the next 18 straight points including 3’s from Munson and Jalen Addison. The run was capped by a Chris Thompson bucket to lead 52-49 with 6:06 to go.

Dakota State’s Jordan Lynn kept it close with 12 points in the final six minutes, but the Vikings held on and went 5-for-5 on free throws in the final minute to ice the victory.

Schramm led all scorers Saturday with 17 points while Munson chipped in 16 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds off the Viking bench. Chris Thompson scored 11 points while going 5-for-7 from the field and finished with three assists and two steals.

Jalen Addison scored nine points and Cayden Rickard added seven points, and they each added two assists for the Vikings.

VCSU shot 39 percent from the field Saturday (24-61), 22 percent from 3-point range (6-27) and 75 percent on free throws (15-20). Dakota State shot 44 percent on field goals (28-63), 11 percent on 3’s (2-18) and 44 percent on free throws (7-16). The Vikings also held a 43-39 rebounding advantage Saturday.

Dakota State had three players score in double figures led by Jordan Lynn and Ronnie Latting who scored 16 points apiece. Lynn also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and added two steals Saturday. Deshwan Kelly scored 14 points off the bench for Dakota State.

UP NEXT: VCSU hosts Dickinson State for the regular season finale on Feb. 18. The women will tip at 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 7:30 p.m.