VALLEY CITY – Dakota State held off a late charge by Valley City State on Friday night, winning the first of what figures to be many tight conference games in the race for the North Star Athletic Association men's basketball title.
 
The Vikings trimmed an 11-point second-half deficit to just one point at 73-72 with 2 minutes remaining, but Dakota State scored the final nine points to hold off the Vikings.
 
Valley City State drops to 8-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Vikings will host Bellevue University on Saturday at 5 p.m. Dakota State improves to 11-7 overall and 1-1 in the conference. The Trojans are on the road at Dickinson State on Saturday.
 
The Vikings led for most of the early going and took a 27-21 advantage on Cleveland Bedgood's bucket with 6:54 remaining in the first half. From that point, Dakota State finished the first half with a 19-5 run as the Trojans took a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
 
The Trojans led by as many as 11 points in the second half, opening up a 53-42 lead on a Kenny Haynes basket with 16:06 remaining. The Vikings would claw their way back into the game over the next few minutes, going on a 11-4 run to pull within 57-53 on a pair of free throws by Odier Olange.
 
With Dakota State leading 67-61 with 8:54 to go, both teams went cold on offense. The teams suffered through a scoring drought of 3 minutes and 52 seconds, both missing opportunities to extend or cut into the lead.
 
VCSU's Jerome Washington eventually ended the drought with a pair of free throws at the 5:02 mark, trimming the Trojan lead to 67-63. A pair of 3-pointers by Washington brought the Vikings to within 71-70 with 3:11 remaining and energized the Viking crowd. The Vikings again were back within one point at 73-72 on another bucket by Washington, but VCSU could never retake the lead.
 
Washington finished with a team-high 16 points to lead Valley City State. Ten of his points came in the final six minutes of the game. Cayden Rickard and Cleveland Bedgood both scored 12 points, and Odier Olange had nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench. LaDarious Stanfield scored nine points, and Agwa Nywesh chipped in eight points with three steals.
 
Mison Coilton led the Trojans with 26 points and 10 rebounds, despite fouling out with four minutes remaining. Braydon Pankonen made three 3's and had 15 points, and Kenny Haynes added 10 points off the bench.
 
VCSU shot 40 percent overall (23-58), 22 percent on 3-pointers (5-23) and 70 percent at the line (21-30). Dakota State finished the game at 48 percent overall (32-67), 25 percent on 3's (5-20) and 71 percent on free throws (12-17).
 
Dakota State held a 42-35 rebounding advantage. VCSU turned it over 17 times while forcing 18 Dakota State turnovers.
 
Up next: Valley City State hosts Bellevue University for another conference doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 13. The women's game tips at 3 p.m. with the men to follow at 5 p.m.