VALLEY CITY - Jayden Ferguson made a clutch 3-pointer with 13 seconds left and Darryl Howell added the exclamation dunk 10 seconds later as the Valley City State men's basketball team won a thriller over its rival Wednesday night, 75-69 against the University of Jamestown.

Ellwood Ellenson goes to the basket for two points Wednesday night. (Mark Potts/VCSU)

The No. 16-ranked Vikings trailed by as many as seven points in the second half and were down 69-68 before scoring the final seven points of the game. The win is VCSU's 15th of the season as the Vikings improve to 15-4 overall and 4-0 in the North Star Athletic Association.

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"We made some stops down the stretch, and obviously we made some big plays offensively," said Viking head coach Jeff Kaminsky. "But most of all tonight, I was proud of our team in terms of just the pure guts we had to pull this out."

Trailing 69-68, the Vikings took the lead for good on Howell's driving basket with 1:08 remaining. After a defensive stop, Ferguson knocked down a 3 from the top of the key, putting the Vikings ahead 73-69 with 13 seconds left.

Jamestown tried for a quick two points to extend the game, but after a missed shot Howell took the outlet pass and punctuated the victory with a fast-break dunk, sending the Viking crowd into a frenzy as time expired.

It is VCSU's first victory over Jamestown since the 2012-13 season. The Jimmies had won the previous five meetings. Jamestown drops to 9-6 overall and is now 1-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. Wednesday's game featured three ties and 10 lead changes, including five lead changes in the final 3:15. The two teams will meet again in one week – Jan. 20 – at the Jamestown Civic Center.

VCSU led for most of the first half Wednesday night and held a 39-34 edge at the break. After the Vikings went ahead 45-40 early in the second half, the Jimmies stormed back with nine straight points to take a 49-45 lead. The Jimmies led by as many as seven at 57-50 after a putback by KeWan Davis with 8:38 remaining.

Howell answered with a big 3-pointer to stop the bleeding and from there it was a battle. With the Jimmies ahead 63-57, Valley City State got seven straight points from Nygel Drury to spark a 9-1 run and a 66-64 lead for the Vikings.

A pair of free throws by Jake Hagler with 1:20 left put the Jimmies ahead 69-68, but VCSU would score the final seven points on big baskets from Howell and Ferguson.

"We've played better than we did tonight, but I thought this was probably our most important win because of how it happened," said Kaminsky. "When you're down to a team that has a lot of momentum and has a lot of skill, we had to play with such great determination to come back."

Ferguson led all scorers with 25 points – shooting 11-for-18 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Drury poured in 17 points and led the Vikings with six rebounds. Howell – who missed the final 12 minutes of the first half after picking up three early fouls – had 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting and dished out seven assists. Ellwood Ellenson added seven points and four rebounds inside.

Jamestown was led by 18 points from Brequan Tucker. The reigning NSAA Most Valuable Player went 5-for-16 from the floor and also led the Jimmies with seven rebounds. Jake Hagler added 15 points and two assists, and Aaron Ashley chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.

The Jimmies shot 42 percent overall (23-55), 40 percent from 3-point range (8-20) and 83 percent at the free throw line (15-18). The Vikings finished the game at 51 percent overall (30-59), 40 percent on 3's (6-15) and 69 percent at the free throw line (9-13).

Both teams took good care of the ball as the Jimmies committed 12 turnovers and the Vikings had just 10 turnovers. VCSU had 31 rebounds, 12 assists, four blocks and five steals. The Jimmies ended the game with 27 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and five steals.

Up next: Valley City State (15-4, 4-0 NSAA) hosts Silver Lake College in a non-conference game Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. University of Jamestown (9-6, 1-1 NSAA)) travels to Dickinson State on Saturday, Jan. 16 for a 6 p.m. conference game.