MAYVILLE, ND – One night after falling to the Bellevue Bruins at home, and losing just their second conference game of the season, the 22^nd ranked Mayville State University Comets bounced back to defeat the road Dakota State Trojans 83-67 at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
"I though the guys flipped the script really well," Comets head coach Darren Tighe said following the win Saturday.
The Comets jumped out to a 6-2 lead early, behind six straight points by Jalen Valverde. But, Mayville State found out the Trojans' Josh McGreal was the real deal, as McGreal scored all six of Dakota State's first six points in the contest, as well.
Back-to-back buckets by Max Cooper eventually pushed the lead to 10-6 with just under four-and-a-half minutes gone in the first half.
Dakota State tied the game with 12:38 to go in the half, as Gavin Schipper nailed a three from the corner on a pass from Carson Rentz—tying the game at 16-16.
The rest of the first half was spent with the two teams battling back-and-forth for positioning, and the lead.
Iker Cruz eventually widened the gap to four points with a three-pointer on a pass from Rene Melendez, pulling the Comets ahead 36-32 with 4:19 to go in the first half.
Later, after Dakota State battled back to within two points, Melendez found an open corner, draining a three, pushing the Comet lead back to five with just over two minutes left in the half. A Thomas Gieske free-throw with 1:41 left made it a six-point game, but McGreal answered back with a bucket to pull the Trojans to within four, the closest they would get until early in the second half.
With the Comets ahead by 10, the Trojans went on an 8-0 run.
The run started with Brady Van Holland's free-throw with 18:17 to go in the half, and then McGreal had two buckets, which were separated by a huge Gare Ewefada three-pointer. The second McGreal bucket, with 17:03 to go, made it 47-45 Comets.
The Comets, however, countered the run with back-to-back buckets, and led by six with just under 15 minutes to play.
Malachi Wharry stepped up late, pushing the lead to 16 points on a free-throw and basket late in the contest.
McGreal would pull the Trojans to within three points, but that's as close as it got, as Mayville State pulled away in the final 12 minutes, eventually pulling to nearly a 20-point lead as the clock ran down in the contest.
Cooper finished the contest with 28 points, while Valverde scored 22.
Mayville State improves to 8-2 in the North Star Athletic Association and 18-4 overall.
The Comets will be on the road for a stretch now, returning home on February 21 to wrap up the regular season against Presentation College.