MADISON, S.D. – The VCSU men's basketball team suffered a 95-79 road loss Friday night at Dakota State University. Four Vikings scored in double figures but Dakota State outpaced the Vikings in a high-scoring contest.
 
With the loss, Valley City State is now guaranteed to be on the road for the first round of the NSAA playoffs. The Vikings will be the No. 7 seed and will face the No. 2 seed – which is likely to be either Bellevue University or Mayville State, depending on Saturday's results.
 
Saturday is the final day of regular season conference play. The first round of the NSAA playoffs is on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The top seed receives a bye, and the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds host a first-round game.
 
On Friday night, Cleveland Bedgood led the Vikings with a 29-point performance at Dakota State. He also dished out a team-high eight assist and had six rebounds. Jerome Washington made four 3's off the bench as he poured in 18 points for VCSU.
 
Odier Olange finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Cayden Rickard made three 3's as he tallied 11 points and three assists. LaDarious Stanfield pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds – including four offensive boards – to go along with six points.
 
Dakota State (16-11, 6-5 NSAA) was led by Mison Coilton who tallied 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Uhana Ochan and Emmanuel Akpan each added 16 points.
 
VCSU made just 39 percent of its shots, going 27-for-70 overall. The Vikings were 7-for-24 on 3's (29 percent) and went 18-for-21 at the free throw line. Dakota State shot 48 percent overall (31-65) on its home floor. The Trojans were 44 percent from 3-point range (7-16) and 87 percent at the line (26-30).
 
Up next: VCSU (11-14, 3-8 NSAA) closes out the regular season Saturday at Bellevue University. The women tip at 3 p.m. with the men to follow at 5 p.m.