Box Score
The Mayville State Comets traveled south to Yankton, S.D. to take on the Mount Marty College Lancers in another non-conference game against a member from the Great Plains Athletic Conference. It was a close contest with both teams leaving a lot on the court in a tight battle, one that went into overtime and ended with the Lancers narrowly coming out with the win on their home court over the Comets.
The game started out with both teams going shot for shot, getting tied up at 8 after
Max Cooper connected on his third bucket in the early minutes of the game. MSU fell behind once the Lancers hit some three's and found a groove. The 14 to 6 run by MMC built their lead to 8. Cooper kept being the hot-hand for the Comets, netting his fifth bucket of the game to help cut the lead. He was followed by
Kobe Critchley with a 3-pointer that took the Lancers' lead down to 3. The Comets turned the table and completed the 12-4 run on a key bucket from
Eric Staebler to tie things up at 26 with 6:11 to go in the half. MMC would close out those minutes with a slight advantage in overall points. They went on a 9-3 run before Dan Lindgren finished the half with two straight free throws to bring the Comets within 4 at the break.
The game would remain a close one throughout the second half. The Comets tried hard to contain the Lancers' Jailen Billings, but he would be a bother to MSU as the half began. He went on to score the first 10 points of the half for MMC, leaving the Comets working hard to answer that back as MMC went up by 7. Some strong play from
Jack Turnbull in the second half, plus the continued efforts of
Max Cooper would help the Comets stay in it. Turnbull would light it up for 15 points in the half, with Cooper adding another ten throughout that time as well. The Lancers went up by 6 with 7:52 to go after a three from Billings, but the Comets would keep battling back and come within one, with the score at 69-68 with 3:05 to play. MMC looked to take this one with a 6 point lead and only 59 seconds to go, but that wouldn't be the case.
Creighton Pfau instantly changed that outlook with a three and brought it to 74-71 just nine seconds later. MMC would extend their lead by one with a free throw, but a bucket from Turnbull and one from
Gorg Alhag tied up the game with 23 seconds to go, forcing the game into overtime.
Ninety seconds came off the clock before anyone scored in OT. It was the Comets scoring first, going up 78-75 on a three coming from Alhag. MMC chipped in two more free throws to come within one, but
Eric Staebler extended the Comet lead to three with 1:27 to go with a bucket. The Lancers brought it to within one again after another big shot from Billings, then taking a 30-second timeout with 52 seconds remaining. A steal by Billings with 20 seconds to go caused the Comets to foul, sending Colby Johnson to the line. Johnson would sink two free throws to take the lead, leaving the Comets with just 15 seconds to go for the win.
Michael Slaba would take the chance at the game winner for the Comets, but unfortunately it didn't fall, leaving the Lancers with the slim overtime victory, 81 to 80.
Mayville State had four Comets in double figures in the game. Leading the way was
Max Cooper with 20, followed by
Jack Turnbull with 15,
Eric Staebler with 13 and
Gorg Alhag with 10. Turnbull would almost get a double-double with 9 rebounds, while
Creighton Pfau also collected 9 boards as well. The Comets shot 47 percent from the floor, going 31 of 65. Jailen Billings had a game-high of 26 for the Lancers, with two other teammates in double figures; Colby Johnson with 17 and Reily Devine with 12.
The Comets are now 7-3 overall and 1-0 inNorth Star Athletic Association play. They'll take a break for the holidays and return in action back at home on December 30th against the University of Winnipeg at 3 p.m.
