Box Score The Comets Men's Basketball team opened 2017 looking for their first conference win against Dakota State. The Trojans used a 23-3 run during a 10 minute stretch and held off a furious Comet rally to win 82-76.

The Comets hit five of their first seven 3-point attempts to stake an early six point lead. Mayville State held a 38-34 lead with just over five minutes to play but the Trojans scored the last 10 points of the half to take a 44-38 advantage at the break. Both teams shot over 50% from the field, but six Dakota St offensive rebounds led to eight second chance points. The run continued for the Trojans as they upped the lead to 57-41 five minutes into the second half. The Comets responded with a 17-3 run of their own to trim the lead to a basket, but they could never reclaim the lead. Clutch free throws (15/17 in the second half) and nine more offensive rebounds enabled Dakota State to keep the Comets at bay and win 82-76. The Trojans outrebounded the Comets 35-22 to negate Mayville State's 13 triples.

Ben Maranan led the Comets with 15 points, followed by Josh Foulds with 14 points and five rebounds, and Conor Quinn finished with 12.

Kyle Kilgore, Justin Folkers and Kevin Daniels paced the Trojans with 17 points apiece, with Kilgore hauling down 10 rebounds. Tanner Heiser added 12 points and Bobby Farquah reached double figures with 10.

The loss drops the Comets to 6-8 overall, 0-5 in the NSAA. Mayville State hosts the Bellevue Bruins Saturday, January 7th, tipoff is at 5pm.