The Mayville State Comet Men's Basketball squad returned to their home roots for another non-conference matchup to get tuned up for their upcoming conference season, taking on the University of Winnipeg Wesmen inside the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. The two teams faced each other earlier in the season up in Winnipeg, which saw the Wesmen pull away with the win in the end. It was a different outcome this afternoon, however. After a high scoring first half, the Comets hit a cold spell for a while and had to fight off a fired up Wesmen squad in the second half to come away with the 79-70 victory.
MSU started out the first half on fire, largely fueled by the hot shooting of
Daniel Lindgren. Lindgren started an early 14-0 run for the Comets, tallying up 12 of those 14 on four three pointers. The Comet defense did a good job of keeping the high-powered offense of U-Winnipeg contained in the opening minutes, allowing only 16 points in the first 12 minutes. The Wesmen were able to catch up and close out the remaining 8 minutes of the half with 17 more points, while the Comets kept the separation steady with a 16 point lead at the half, 49 to 33.
The Wesmen would not go away without a fight, and for a while, it looked like they were really turning the momentum of the game in their favor. In the first 9 minutes, U-Winnipeg started to close the gap by outscoring the Comets 16 to 11, taking the MSU lead down to 11. The Comets weren't scoring in spurts like they were in the first half, and UW kept up the pressure and closed the gap down to a two point deficit after an 8-0 run, making it 64-62 with 6:26 left to go. After that,
Jack Turnbull and
Gorg Alhag created some space for the Comets with a three from Turnbull and a layup by Alhag to follow. UW was able to get within four and called a timeout with 2:24 remaining, but the Comets were able to keep the Wesmen momentum in check and closed out the game by making some crucial free throws in the final minutes of play. It was enough for the Comets to get a revenge win over the Wesmen at home this time, 79-70.
Leading the Comets in scoring was
Daniel Lindgren with a game high of 21, shooting 6 of 13 from the field, 5 out of 9 on three's and 4 for 4 at the free throw line.
Gorg Alhag was next with 12, plus a solid double-double day for
Eric Staebler, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the game. The Wesmen were led by Sean Tarver with 19, plus Dan Dayrit and Adam Benrabah with 14 each. Tarver would also have a double-double effort with 10 rebounds added in the mix. After a hot-shooting 17 of 33 in the first half from the field, the Comets went 9 for 24 to round out the game with 45 percent field goal shooting in the game. They shot 39 of their points from behind the arc, netting 13 out of 30 shots for a 43 percent night from downtown.
Next action will start up for the 8-3 Comets on the road, as they enter back into North Star Athletic Association play with a 1-0 record, taking on Viterbo University on January 4th at La Crosse, Wisc. and Waldorf University at Forest City, Iowa on January 5th.
