MADISON, S.D – Dakota State used a 16-1 run to open a big first half lead then had to hold off a second half rally by Valley City State to pick up a 77-62 win in Frontier Conference Men's basketball Saturday night in Madison, South Dakota.

The Vikings fall to 4-5 overall and 0-5 in the Frontier Conference. Dakota State is 9-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

Valley City State got off to a good start, scoring seven of the first nine points of the game. A three-pointer from Taylor Bryant-Frey gave the Vikings a 5-2 lead, then a layup from Kaleb Larson made it 7-2 with 16:33 to go in the first half. Dakota State came right back and went on a 11-0 run to take a six-point lead. Brayden Pankonen made back-to-back three-pointers to give the Trojans a 13-7 lead with 13:20 to go in the first half. Valley City State came back with an 8-3 run to cut the lead down to one. A corner three-pointer by Nick Carlson made it 16-15 Trojans.

The Vikings had a chance to take the lead, but JR Cison missed the front end of the bonus, and the Trojans came down and got a layup from Nathan Ojukwu which started a 10-0 run to open an eleven-point lead. A three-pointer by Ojukwu made it 26-15 Dakota State with 8:58 to go in the first half. That run would reach 16-1 and the lead would grow to 16 after another three-pointer by Ojukwu made it 32-16 with 7:24 to go in the first half. The Trojans continued to knock down three-pointers and took a 20-point lead into the locker room. Dakota State hit on eight of 13 three-pointers in the first 20 minutes and lead 47-27 at halftime.

Dakota State started the second half on a 18-8 run to extend their lead to 30 points. After a high percentage shot by Ojukwu gave Dakota State a 65-35 lead, the Vikings started to chip away at the deficit. A three-pointer by Larson was part of an 20-1 run by Valley City State to cut the lead to eleven. A layup by Nez Chehade made the score 66-55 with 4:28 to go in the second half.

That would be as close as the Vikings would be able to get the rest of the way as the Trojans pulled out the 77-62 win.

The Vikings were led by Logan Deal's double-double of 13 points and ten rebounds. Kaleb Larson and Nez Chehade each had twelve points.

UP NEXT: Valley City State will head to Montana next weekend for games with Montana Western on Saturday night and #4 Montana Tech on Sunday.