The Valley City State University men's basketball team lost a shootout Tuesday night at Dakota Wesleyan, falling to the Tigers 96-76 despite shooting almost 60 percent from the field.

Valley City State drops to 2-4 on the season. The Vikings will return home to host Crossroads College on Friday night at 7 p.m. Dakota Wesleyan, which is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 poll, improved to 7-0 with the win.

Freshman Jayden Ferguson scored 19 points to lead the Viking offense, which shot 59 percent from the field (31-53) and 43 percent on 3's (6-14). Mac Kroeplin poured in 14 points and Briton Bussman added nine in the loss.

Turnovers and points off turnovers hurt the Vikings on Tuesday. VCSU turned the ball over 17 times, compared to just five turnovers by Dakota Wesleyan. When the Vikings turned it over, the Tigers made it hurt, outscoring VCSU 31-7 on points off turnovers.

Jalen Voss erupted for 37 points on 16-for-22 shooting to lead Dakota Wesleyan's potent attack. Kris Menning added 21 points. Dakota Wesleyan shot 54 percent from the field (35-65) and 35 percent on 3's (8-23).

After a back-and-forth first 10 minutes, the Vikings took their last lead of the game, 22-21 on a basket by Anthony Saavedra with 9:26 remaining in the first half. Dakota Wesleyan scored the next 12 points to create some separation as the Tigers took a 48-33 lead into halftime. VCSU battled back to within 11 points in the second half, but couldn't cut the lead to single-digits.

The Vikings shot 8-for-12 on free throws, while the Tigers made 18 of 23 free throw attempts.

Up next: Valley City State (2-4) hosts Crossroads College at 7 p.m. Friday at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.