Mayville, N.D. – The Mayville State University Men's Basketball team dropped a conference game against Dickinson State Saturday by a final score of 77-80. The Comets drop to 8-3 on the regular season and 5-2 in conference play.

After the Blue Hawks scored the first four points of the game, the Comets would answer with a 14-2 run to take a 14-6 advantage with 13:53 left in the first half. The Comets would continue to extend the lead throughout the first half securing a 15 point advantage with 5:22 left in the half. MSU would take an 11-point lead into the intermission.

In the first half, the Comets shot 44.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the 3-point line, and made their only free-throw attempt. The Comets held the Blue Hawks to 37.5 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from the 3-point line in the first half. Dickinson State would start the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the Comet lead to three.

The Blue Hawks would take their first lead since the first two minutes of the game, on a two-point bucket to take a 47-46 lead. The Comets was trailing by 11 with 4:20 left in the game before a big run by the Comets to cut the lead to one. During that run, the Comets forced four turnovers that led to eight MSU points.

With the Comets down four with 15 seconds left in the game, Ketchel hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to one point. DSU would make both free throws with seven seconds left in regulation to give them a 3-point lead. John Ketchel attempted the game-tying 3-pointer as time expired but missed it to drop their second game against the Blue Hawks this season.

Mayville State finished the game shooting 41.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from behind the arc, pulled in 43 rebounds, dished out 15 assists on 30 made field goals, and forced eight turnovers. MSU also finished with 11 points off turnovers, 24 bench points, and nine second-chance points. Thomas Gieske led the Comets tonight in scoring with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Keiron Goodwin recorded 14 points and three rebounds in the loss. Latrelle Franklin tallied 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. John Ketchel drilled three 3-pointers in the game finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, five assists, and one steal. Xavier Towne was also in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds, two assists, and one block on the night.

The Comets will face the same two teams next weekend on the road. First, they travel to Dickinson State to face the Blue Hawks Friday starting at 8:30 CST/7:30 MST and Saturday at Valley City State starting around 5:00 PM.