MAYVILLE, N.D. – Mayville State used an 8-0 run midway through the second half to take the lead then had to hold off Valley City State late in the game for an 85-82 win over the Vikings in the Frontier Conference opener for both teams.

Valley City State is 4-1 on the season and 0-1 in the Frontier Conference. Mayville State is now 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.

In the first half, Mayville State jumped out to a 15-2 lead only to see Valley City State chip away at that 13-point lead to eventually tie the game halfway through the first half. A three-pointer by the Comets' Christian Bowen-Webb made it 15-2 Mayville State with 15:36 to go in the first half. The lead would be 13 again twice more at 17-4 and 19-6. The Valley City State went on a 15-2 run of their own to tie the game. A three-pointer by Taylor Bryant-Frey tied the game at 21-21 with 10:09 to go in the first half. It was back and forth for the next six minutes until the Vikings were able to grab the lead for the first time in the game. Two free throws by JR Cison gave the Vikings a 35-34 lead with 4:08 to go in the half. He would hit two more charity tosses with 3:14 to go to give the Vikings a 37-34 lead. Malik Siggers made two free throws for Mayville State to give the Comets the lead back at 38-37. The teams would play leapfrog for the rest of the half. Nez Chehade drove the lane and scored for the Vikings to tie the game at 42-42 with eleven seconds left in the half. Siggers missed a free throw with eight seconds to go. Valley City turned the ball over off the defensive rebound and neither team scored to keep the score at 42-42 at the half.

The Vikings got off to a good start in the second half with a 13-5 run to take a seven-point lead. A three-pointer by Cison started the run and gave the Vikings a 45-42 lead 13 seconds into the half. A steal and a dunk by Joel Nelson made the score 54-47, that was the biggest lead of the game for the Vikings to that point. The Comets then went on a 17-4 run to take the lead back. Two free throws by Gaebreal Perry made it 60-58 Comets with 12:19 to go in the second half. Siggers made two free throws to give the Comets a six-point lead at 64-58 with 10:10 to go in the half.

A three-point play by Kaleb Larson cut the lead to one at 64-63 with 9:15 to go in the second half. Mayville state would then go on a 6-0 run to take a seven-point lead. Isiah Smith baseline layup made it 70-63 Comets with 7:31 to go in the second half. A layup by Darius Brant gave the Comets a 76-67 lead with 4:57 to go in the second half. The Vikings used a 6-0 run to get the lead down to two. A basket inside by Larson made it 76-74 Comets with 3:22 to go in the second half. An old fashion three-point play by Siggers gave the Comets an 81-76 lead with 1:43 to go in the second half. The Vikings had a chance tie the game at the horn. Alex Lester hit a baby hook shot in the lane to make it 83-82 Comets with 8.2 seconds to go. Siggers hit two free throws with seven seconds to go to make it 85-82. Larson's 35-footer just came up short as the Comets escaped with an 85-82 win.

The Vikings were led by Kaleb Larson with 18 points; all coming in the second half and added seven rebounds. JR Cison scored 17 points. Jaelyn Johnson had eight points and five rebounds. Logan Deal had a game high 14 rebounds for VCSU.

UP NEXT: Valley City State is home this weekend for conference games with Montana Western on Friday, November 21^st and Montana Tech on Saturday, November 22^nd. Tipoff both nights is at 7:00 p.m.