WATERTOWN, SD – Mayville State's men's basketball team is off to the North Star Athletic Association tournament championship after Saturday's 75-62 win over the Viterbo V-Hawks at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, South Dakota. The win marked Mayville State's third straight win, and third win over the V-Hawks this season.
"I thought we started out very aggressive and continued it throughout the game on both sides of the ball," Comets head coach Darren Tighe said. "I am really proud of our effort."
Rene Melendez's three pointer less than two minutes into the contest put the Comets ahead 5-2 early. Viterbo battled back to bring the game to within one point less than 20 seconds later, but the Comets answered nearly right away with another three pointer by Melendez. Back-to-back baskets by Jalen Valverde put the Comets up by eight with just over three minutes gone in the half, but back-to-back buckets by Viterbo made it a two-possession, four-point game with 15:54 left in the half.
But, Melendez struck again, nailing his third three pointer of the night, extending the lead back to seven points with 14:58 to go in the first half.
The three-point shooting continued for Mayville State, as Latrelle Franklin drained one with 13:54 to go.
Viterbo pulled the game to within four points several times throughout the remainder of the first half, but Mayville State answered every time—including with 5:22 to go, when Dominic Schuster drained yet another three-pointer for the Comets, this time putting the Comets back up by seven points. Schuster's hot shooting would continue down the stretch, as he had a five-point stretch in 24 seconds leading into the halftime break. The last three points put Mayville State ahead by 13 with 1:34 to go in the half. Mayville State took an eventual 12-point lead into the break.
Down the stretch in the second half, Max Cooper had a pair of baskets, the latter which put Mayville State ahead by 14 points with just over 10 minutes to go in the contest.
Jack Monis made it a nine-point game with 8:41 to go, but a three-point play by Iker Cruz put the Comets back ahead by 12 points.
Nicholas Malovrh's three-pointer with 7:09 to go pulled the V-Hawks to within single digits, but Cooper, with 1:48 left, put the dagger in Viterbo's opportunity at coming back, making it a double-digit lead again. Lowden Rockweiler pulled Viterbo to within nine points with 54 seconds late, but the Comets were able to hold the V-Hawks off the scoreboard throughout the rest of the contest, finishing on a 4-0 run in the final 52 seconds.
The Comets were led by three in double-figures—Cooper finished with a team-high 20 points, while Franklin added 17 points; Valverde had 12 and Melendez finished with 11.
The Comets advance to the conference championship game, where they'll take on the Waldorf Warriors.
Mayville State and Waldorf have met twice this season—with Mayville State taking both matchups. Mayville State won the first 67-43 on January 10 in Mayville, and defeated Waldorf 77-75 on February 15 in Forest City, Iowa.
Sunday's conference championship is set to tip off at 4 p.m. at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D.