On a night where the weather outside was frightful, the play inside the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse was delightful, as the Mayville State University Comets defeated the Viterbo V-Hawks 88-75 in North Star Athletic Association Men's Basketball quarterfinal action.

Key for Mayville State was a comeback right off the bat, as Viterbo led 10-4 with just over four minutes gone in the first half, including a run of back-to-back free throws by Jason Tichy, followed by a bucket by Tyree Young, and, 23 seconds later, two more free throws by Young.

"It was a really good basketball game," head coach Darren Tighe said.

Mayville State would then make it a game, taking a 14-10 lead with 13:06 left in the half. Max Cooper would score six of his 12 total points in the first seven minutes of the contest.

The teams would then trade buckets, with Mayville State pulling ahead by four on a Kobe Critchley free throw with 11:59 to go in the first half, making it 19-15 at the time.

But, Viterbo would answer back to pull within two. The two teams would again trade buckets twice, making it a three point game, 24-21.

Enter Gorg Alhag. The senior, from Mankato, Minn., was a true leader Wednesday night, racking up a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. In the latter portion of the first half, Alhag would score seven points. In addition, Creighton Pfau added three points in the final moments of the half, Max Cooper four, and Michael Slaba, five.

The Comets took a 43-40 lead into the second half. That's where the tide began to turn.

After a 7-0 start, behind five from Jack Turnbull, the V-Hawks turned on the pressure. In a matter of eight minutes and 12 seconds, Viterbo turned the game from a 50-40 lead for Mayville State, into a 61-55 lead for the V-Hawks. In that time frame, Young nailed six points; Jake Schroeckenthaler had three points; Robert Cunitz added in six, all on three pointers; and Noah Fredrickson added five points.

Mayville State bounced back, going on a run of their own, pulling it to 76-66 with under two minutes to go, behind four from Critchley, five from Eric Staebler, two from Daniel Lindgren and four from Alhag.

"We kept our composure and stayed positive," Tighe said. "It was a renewed sense of energy."

The V-Hawks pulled back to within three late, on back-to-back free throws by Cade Anderson, a bucket by Young and a three-pointer by Tichy. Viterbo's final bucket came with 32 seconds left.

In an interesting turn of events, with just seconds to go in the ball game, Cunitz was called for a personal foul and, in the course of that foul, Viterbo head coach Wayne Wagner was assessed a technical foul. Then, moments later, Tichy was assessed a technical foul.

In all, Mayville State scored seven points on free throws in the final seconds, five by Alhag and two by Staebler.

Mayville State finished with three players in double figures, led by Alhag's 28 points; Turnbull added 15 and Cooper added 12. In addition to Alhag's 28 points, he finished with seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

"This is the type of player he (Gorg) is," Tighe said.

With the win, Mayville State advances to the Final Four, which will start Saturday.

"We have to make sure that we get healthy and get mentally wrapped around what we have to do different now," Tighe explained.

The Comets will play Presentation College at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Watertown Civic Arena.