VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State University men's basketball team hosted the Montana State University Bulldogs, taking/falling … 
 
The Vikings moved to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in Frontier Conference games. The Bulldogs are now 6-1 overall and 1-0 in Frontier Conference games. 
 
Montana Western started the game scoring and early three and a two, taking a 5-0 lead. The Vikings narrowed the early lead to 7-5 after Joel Nelson three pointer and Jaelyn Johnson two. The Bulldogs responded going on a 8-0 run growing their two-point lead to 15-5. With 12:24 remaining in the first half the Vikings trailed 27-13. From there Taylor Bryant-Frey 14 points in 11 minutes assisting the Vikings and an epic first half comeback. JR Cison would finish the first half with 10 points followed by Nez Chehade with 8.
 
In the first half the Vikings shot 21-38, 55% from the field, 3-12 from the three-point line. They had 30 points from off the bench boasting the depth in their roster. The Bulldogs shot 20-28, 71% from the field and 5-11 from the three-point line.
 
The second half was much of the same for both offenses. For the first 10 minutes neither team could grow a sizable lead. With 9:49 remaining the Bulldogs led 84-82 with both teams scoring efficiently on both sides of the court. The Vikings were 12-17 from the field scoring 29 points. Montana western had scored 31 points shooting 9-20 but was 11-11 from the free throw line.
 
In the final 9:49, there were six ties and six lead changes. Valley City State's took a 103-101 lead with 1:38 remaining on an Alex Lester field goal inside. After the Bulldogs tied it at 103, Logan Deal made one of two free throws. That was a big part of the night for Valley City, hitting only 50 percent of their free throws. Emanuel Steward scored inside after grabbing two offensive rebounds. That gave Montana Western the lead 105-104. Kyle Gruhler made two free throws with 18 seconds to go. A last second desperation three by Larson rattled off the rim ending the game.

Taylor Bryant-Frey led the Vikings with 23 points. Kaleb Larson added 18 points and four rebounds. Logan Deal had 14 points, Nez Chehade scored twelve while JR Cison chipped in ten points, five rebounds and four assists.

UP NEXT: The Vikings host #6 Montana Tech Saturday, November 22^nd with the tip scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The Orediggers defeated Mayville State Friday night, 75-63.