Mayville, N.D. – The Mayville State University Men's Basketball team defeated the V-Hawks Friday night by a final score of 66-63. The Comets move to 12-4 on the regular season and 9-3 in conference play.

The V-Hawks got out to an early lead on the Comets and held that lead throughout most of the first half. The V-Hawks were up two at the 9:34 mark of the first half before a 7-0 run extended the lead to nine with 7:46 to go till halftime. Mayville State answered back with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 24 with five minutes to go. Viterbo took the lead right back after the Comet run and went on an 8-0 run to give the V-Hawks an eight-point advantage over MSU. Mayville State trailed by four heading into the intermission.

It was a see-saw battle throughout the first seven minutes of the second half before the Comets went on an 11-3 run over, that lasted over six minutes. Mayville State would start another run at the 6:02 mark of the second half to jump out to their biggest lead of the game at 13. With the Comets up 10 with 2:07 left in the game, Viterbo would close the gap to three with 30 seconds left. After a turnover by the Comets, the V-Hawks had one more opportunity to tie the game up but missed the shot at the buzzer and the Comets keep their one-game lead in the NSAA.

Mayville State finished the game shooting 40.6 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from behind the arc, tallied 42 rebounds, and 15 assists on 28 made field goals. The Comets also finished with 18 points off turnovers, 17 second-chance points, and 24 bench points. Latrelle Franklin finished the game with a team-high 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Thomas Gieske was the other Comet in double figures with 14 points and five rebounds. Iker Cruz and Keiron Goodwin finished the game with eight-point. Cruz also finished with eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Xavier Town finished with six points, eight rebounds, one block, and one steal.