Box Score

BELLEVUE, NE – The Mayville State Men's Basketball team is bringing home the 2018 North Star Athletic Association Tournament title with a hard-fought 73-70 victory over the Dickinson State Blue Hawks Monday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center in Bellevue, Nebraska.

The Comets (18-10) earned an automatic berth to the NAIA Men's Basketball Division II National Tournament, the first games of the tournament will begin on March 7th at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD. The selection show will take place this Wednesday at 5:00 pm.

Daniel Lindgren got things rolling with a couple of jumpers early in the game for the Comets, Lindgren would provide the energy in the beginning of what would be a very tight game.

It was back-and-forth early on, Dickinson State would go on a quick run only to be answered by the Comets soon after. Both teams would trade buckets until Dickinson State was able to find some momentum after a couple of Gallo Carter 3-pointers gave the Blue Hawks a 6-point lead, 32-26. 

From there, the Blue Hawks used a quick 6-0 run to take a 38-26 lead with 1:40 left before intermission. The Comets were able to bounce back by scoring the final five points of the half to cut the DSU lead to 38-31 at the break. The first half featured four ties and seven lead changes in a hard-fought battle between the two North Dakota teams.

The Comets turned things around in the second half and found the momentum they needed. Creighton Pfau and Gorg Alhag helped give the Comets a surge to close the gap early in the second half. Pfau was able to connect on an early 3-pointer and Alhag followed that up with five straight points of his own. Cameron Epps then hit back-to-back jumpers to tie it up at 45 with just over 15 minutes left. 

A 19-7 run to open the second half gave Coach Tighe's team a 50-45 advantage with 12:07 remaining. Garek Droog provided some key buckets and free throws to build a 5-point lead for Mayille State. After the Blue Hawks responded with an 8-2 spurt to regain the lead at 58-57, MSU used a 12-2 run, fueled by some big shots from Eric Staebler, to gain a 9-point advantage at 69-60 with 2:46 remaining. 

Dickinson State's Terrell Butler would then go on a tear, scoring the next ten points for the Blue Hawks. A Butler 3-pointer with 32 seconds left made it a one-point game at 71-70. The Blue Hawks were forced to foul, but the Comets missed two of their last four free throws to open the door for DSU. Up by three in the final seconds of the game, Mayville State was able to play stout defense and force Dickinson State to miss on a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Comets the 73-70 win. 

Daniel Lindgren and Gorg Alhag each scored 13 points to lead Mayville State, Garek Droog added twelve and Creighton Pfau was the fourth Comet in double figures, finishing with 10 points and providing tough defense all night. Eric Staebler also had a solid night with nine points and seven rebounds. 

Terrell Butler led all players with 25 points and nine rebounds. Marcus White added 19 points and eight boards for the Dickinson State Blue Hawks. 

In an impressive first season as the head coach of Mayville State, Darren Tighe has led the Comets to the NAIA Division II National Tournament with an 18-10 overall record. The last time Mayville State appeared in the National Tournament was the 2006-07 season.