Box Score Dickinson, N.D. - The Comets Men's Basketball team faced off against another Frontier Conference foe Saturday, this time against the Montana Western Bulldogs. Mayville State held off a furious Bulldog comeback to win 80-78.

"Going into this weekend was going to be a really good test for us and I think we did well," said head coach Brandon McGruder. "Both of the teams we played are really good. Carroll was in the elite 8 a few years ago and Montana Western stood toe to toe for the entire game against the #1 team in the country."

McGruder added, "I think we really locked in during our two practices to prep for both teams. Each team was different. Carroll plays a lot of zone and had great size; Western is extremely athletic and plays all man. It was a lot to put in in a short amount of time but I think they executed what we went over well."

Montana Western Recap:

Neither team gained any momentum early, as the lead switched numerous times back and forth. Halfway through the first half, the Comets went on a 14-4 run to turn a slim 21-20 lead into a 35-24 advantage with six minutes until halftime.

BJ Woods scored seven crucial points during that run. The Bulldogs roared back and outscored Mayville State 19-9 the rest of the way, as a three pointer with 30 seconds left chopped the lead to 44-43.

The Comets launched another run early in the second half and ripped off a 15-2 run over a five minute stretch to bump their lead up to 14 points at 66-52.

Montana Western chipped away at this lead for the next five minutes and knotted the game at 68 with just over five minutes to go.

The three Comets seniors – Juan Carlos Canahuate, Thomas Gieske and Jamison Kramer carried the Comets offense the rest of the way, as they scored our last 12 points. A Canahuate layup with 13 seconds left gave Mayville State an 80-78 lead, and the Comets defense forced two missed attempts to escape with the two point win.

The Comets were lights out offensively, as we shot 54% from the field, which included 7 of 14 three pointers and 81% from the charity stripe. The Comets also dished out 20 assists to only 10 turnovers.

Kramer poured in 25 points to continue his hot streak, followed by Gieske with 18 points and Canahuate stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

"I was pleased with our overall defense this weekend. We played a ton of zone against Carroll which we typically don''t do and I thought it looked really good. I think we guarded Western's actions really well just gave up some isolation points. We had droughts of 3-4 minutes in each game where we didn't score which shrunk our lead, credit to both teams, so we'll have to work on that," said McGruder.

The Comets entered the 2023-2024 season receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, but have since dropped out of the rankings. McGruder commented that, "I think these wins could propel us going into break. With a win Tuesday, we would be 30-5 in our last 35 games. We're playing really good basketball. We have 2 regular season games left that could potentially put us at 11-2 if we win both. If so, I think we'll get some national attention."

The win boosts the Comets record to 9-2. Mayville State hosts the Trinity Bible College Lions at the Lewy Lee on Tuesday, December 5^th. Tip off is at 7:30, fans are encouraged to bring in an unwrapped toy in exchange for admission to the game as Tuesday will be SAAC's Annual Toy Drive.