MAYVILLE, ND – On a night when the Comets had a tough time hitting shots, senior Max Cooper was able to provide the offense and help Mayville State to their eighth straight win with a 69-55 victory over the Viterbo V-Hawks on Saturday evening.  

Cooper, a senior from Minnetonka, Minn. poured in 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and grabbed ten rebounds on the day for the Comets in a game where MSU struggled to put the ball in the basket at times. 

The Comets were able to jump out to a 7-0 lead to begin the game after Latrelle Franklin put in a basket four minutes in. The V-Hawks responded with a 6-point run of their own when Tyree Young and Noah Fredrickson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 7-6. Young would hit another three for Viterbo a few minutes later to tie the game at 13 with eleven minutes to play before Max Cooper regained the lead for the Comets with a bucket down low. 

Viterbo managed to pull ahead by five with 6:51 to play in the first half after an Alex Clement bucket put the V-Hawks ahead 23-18. From there, the Comet defense stiffened and turned missed shots from Viterbo into offense on the other end of the court. 

Mayville State outscored Viterbo 15-6 in the final six and half minutes of the first half. Jalen Valverde provided a spark with six points in that stretch, and Latrelle Franklin finished the half off scoring the final six points for the Comets. MSU was able to overcome the first half surge from the V-Hawks and head into halftime with a 34-28 lead. 

The defensive pressure from the Comets kept up to start the second half and MSU was able to widen the gap after Rene Melendez and Max Cooper had back-to-back scores for the home team. A 3-pointer from Iker Cruz then put the Comets up by 14 before the V-Hawks were able to score their first points of the second half. 

The Comets were able to build a 20-point lead with eleven minutes to play, but Viterbo would not go away quietly. A Tyree Young 3-pointer capped off a 9-0 run for the V-Hawks and cut the Comets' lead to eleven with seven minutes to play. MSU responded with a bucket from Tobyn Lawson and then seven straight points from Rene Melendez to build the lead back up to 17 with just over three minutes to play.

A pair of threes from Noah Fredrickson would bring the V-Hawks within eleven again in the closing minutes of the game, but it was too little too late and the Comets were able to pull out another North Star win on Saturday, defeating Viterbo 69-55. 

Max Cooper's 20-point night was complemented by Latrelle Franklin's 13-point effort and twelve points from Rene Melendez. Jalen Valverde also added ten points and three assists in Saturday's win. 

Tyree Young led the way for Viterbo with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Noah Fredrickson and Lowden Rockweiler both added 14 points for the V-Hawks in the loss. 

The Comets will be on the road next weekend for two more North Star matchups. Coach Darren Tighe's team will travel to Madison, S.D. on Friday to square off against Dakota State, then head to Bellevue, Neb. for a showdown with the Bellevue Bruins next Saturday.