YANKTON, S.D. – Valley City State ended the game on a 13-4 run to pull out an 83-82 win over Doane University in Yankton, S.D. Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings are 3-0 on the season with the win. Doane falls to 3-2 on the season.

The first half belonged the to Vikings. Valley City State used a 23-3 run to take a 21-point lead. After a three-pointer by Doane's Jack Wilson made it 4-3 VCSU, the Vikings went on a 11-0 run to take a twelve-point lead. A layup by Joel Nelson started the run then a layup by Kaleb Larson ended it, making the score 15-3 Vikings with 16:05 to go in the first half. Doane got a three-pointer from Casen Chaney to make it 15-6, then the Vikings scored the next twelve points to take the 21-point lead. Two free throws by Alex Lester made it 27-6 VCSU with 13:17 to go in the half.

It was back and forth from that point on for the rest of the first half. The biggest lead the Vikings had in the half was 23, that happened twice. The first time on after a three-pointer from JR Cison made it 33-10 with 10:40 remaining in the half. Then a layup by Logan Deal made it 35-12 with 8:31 to go in the first half. The closest the Tigers would get the rest of the half was twelve, 46-34. But Valley City State ended the half on a 6-0 run to lead 52-34 at the break.

The second half was a different story as the Tigers came all the way back to eventually take the lead. Doane outscored the Vikings 26-8 in the first seven-and-half minutes of the second half to tie the game. A three-pointer by Justus Gardiner made it 60-60 with 12:26 to go in the second half. The Vikings would get three free throws from Nick Carlson over the next minute to take a 63-60 lead. Doane would then go on a 11-0 run to take an eight-point lead. Two Jack Wilson free throws made it 71-63 Tigers with 6:06 to go in regulation.

It was back-and-forth for the next three minutes as the Tigers held the lead. A three-pointer by Trevon Beckman made it 78-70 Doane with 3:05 to go. That is when the Vikings went on their game deciding run.
A three-pointer by Cison started the run by cutting the lead to 78-73. Cison would score the next eleven points for the Vikings. His sixth three-pointer of the game gave the Vikings the lead back at 81-79 with 52 seconds left in regulation. Two free throws by Kaleb Larson made it 83-79. Wilson hit a three-pointer for Doane to make it 83-82 with 15 seconds left. Taylor Bryant-Frey missed two free throws with eight seconds remaining. Casen Chaney's jumper from the elbow was off the mark and the Vikings left Yankton with two wins.

JR Cison led Valley City State with 26 points, eighteen coming in the second half, along with two steals. Kaleb Larson had 14 points. Taylor Bryant-Frey came off the bench to score nine points. Logan Deal had eight points, four rebounds, and four assists. Alex Lester had seven points and five rebounds. Nick Carlson had six points and two steals while Caden Grinde chipped in four points, four rebounds, and three assists.

UP NEXT: The Vikings will be in Mitchell, South Dakota on Wednesday, November 12^th with a matchup against another GPAC team, Dakota Wesleyan. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.