VALLEY CITY (VCSU) – Dakota State made 12 3-pointers and shot 90 percent at the free throw line as the Trojan men's basketball team downed Valley City State on Friday night, 84-79.

After trailing 42-41 at halftime, the Vikings tied the game twice in the second half but were never able to establish a second-half lead. VCSU was within two points – 79-77 – after Justyn Galloway's 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining, but Dakota State's Justin Folkers answered inside on the other end and Dakota State made free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory.

Valley City State drops to 8-15 overall and 2-9 in the North Star Athletic Association. Dakota State improves to 10-14 overall and 4-7 in the NSAA.

The Vikings entered the night one game behind Dakota State for eighth place in the NSAA standings. Only the top eight teams make the NSAA postseason tournament. VCSU's road to the conference tournament became much tougher after Friday's result. Dakota State and Presentation College both now have two game leads on VCSU in the standings. Dakota State would also have the head-to-head tiebreaker with VCSU by virtue of sweeping the season series.

Viking senior Jayden Ferguson scored 26 points in the game, becoming just the third Viking ever to top 2,000 career points. Ferguson's 2003 career points rank him third in Viking history, just three points behind Bill Galloway who scored 2006 points for VCSU from 1949-54.

Rashad Satahoo poured in 21 points for the Vikings, shooting 9-for-15 from the field. Justyn Galloway added 19 points and a team-high nine rebounds, including five offensive boards. The trio combined for 66 of VCSU's 79 points and shot 67 percent from the field.

As a team, VCSU finished at 49 percent overall (31-63), 36 percent on 3's (9-25) and 73 percent at the line (8-11). Dakota State shot 48 percent overall (27-56) but went 46 percent from 3-point range (12-26) and 90 percent at the line (18-20).

VCSU committed 12 turnovers compared to five by Dakota State.

Dakota State had five players score in double figures, led by 20 points from Justin Folkers off the bench. Maurice Arrington added 16 points off the bench. Brendon Boomsma filled up the stat sheet with seven points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Valley City State shot 55 percent in the first half, but the Trojans made seven 3's in the first half to hold a slim lead at the break. Trailing 40-35 in the final minutes of the first half, the Vikings closed with a 6-2 run to pull within 42-41 at halftime.

After going down 47-41 early in the second half, the Vikings used an 8-2 run – including back-to-back 3's by Jayden Ferguson – to tie the game at 49-49 with 15:19 remaining. Dakota State created some separation with a 6-0 run a few minutes later, getting six straight points by Bobby Farquah to build a 65-58 lead with 7:56 to go.

A 3-pointer by VCSU freshman Hunter McCalla stopped the Trojan run and sparked five straight points for the Vikings, but VCSU was never able to overtake the Trojans in the second half.

The Vikings played the game without starting center Austin Dunbar who was out with an illness.

Up next: Valley City State University hosts Bellevue University on Saturday at 5 p.m. Dakota State plays at Dickinson State on Saturday.