MADISON, S.D. – There were plenty of reasons to celebrate Sunday night after 24
th-ranked Mayville State's 78-68 win over the Dakota State University Trojans. It was another conference win, their tenth strength victory and more.
"It was a really great effort by our guys," Comets head coach
Darren Tighe said. "It's never easy winning on the road, so I was really pleased with the effort and intensity we came with tonight."
Probably the biggest—and most memorable—moment on Sunday night came after the game. As the final horn sounded at the DSU Gymnasium, head coach
Darren Tighe had just won his 100
th game as a head coach.
The game was tight throughout. The Comets held a halftime lead of 37-34, but began playing lights out in the early moments of the second half, outscoring the Trojans 41-34 en route to the victory. Dakota State and Mayville State exchanged the lead seven times throughout the night.
Mayville State, as it has most of the season, saw a core nucleus of four players do a majority of the scoring. Four out of the Comets starting five accounted for 60 of the Comets' 78 points on the night.
Mayville State's
Rene Melendez and
Simon Ramirez were hot again from behind the three-point line, as Melendez went four-for-six, while Ramirez went three-for-six. Add to that mixture a 10-of-15 night for
Max Cooper from the field, and the Comets found the recipe for success in the contest.
Mayville State was stellar from the field in the second half—shooting nearly 15 percentage points better than in the first half.
The Comets were led by Cooper with 21 points, Melendez with 14,
Latrelle Franklin with 13 and
Jalen Valverde with 12 points.
Mayville State will travel to Valley City on Friday and Dickinson on Saturday to continue their conference season.