Trojans win at Mount Marty

YANKTON, S.D. – Mount Marty (S.D.) grabbed a one-point lead at 50-49 with less than four-and-half minutes remaining in the game Tuesday night at the Cimpl Arena.  Dakota State finished the game with a 14-5 scoring spurt to earn a 63-55 victory over the Lancers.

Dakota State, which received votes to the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball national poll for the seventh consecutive week, raised their overall record to 16-7.  The victory also gave the Trojans their fifth straight win over the Lancers in the series.  Mount Marty, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, lost their fourth straight game and ninth loss in the last 10 games.  The Lancers dropped their overall record to 7-17.

DSU kicked off the game by scoring five straight points for a 5-0 lead with nineteen minutes and four seconds left in the first-half.

The Trojans extended to their largest lead of the game on two occasions at 16-7 (12 minutes before halftime) and 18-9 (9:44 remaining in the first-half).

The Lancers went on a 17-7 scoring run to earn their first lead of the game at 26-25 with 3:43 left in the first-half.

Both team knotted the game at 30 by halftime.

MMC shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the field in the first-half compared to the Trojans 46.4 percent (13-for-28).

Dakota State and Mount Marty exchanged lead or tied the game through the first 15-plus minutes of the second-half (with the biggest lead by DSU with 4 points at 36-32 with 18:06 remaining).

Trailing 50-49, the Trojans used a 10-1 scoring run in a span of three-and-half-minutes to earn a 59-51 lead with 43 seconds left in the game.

DSU secured the game as Tyrone Gordon, Jr. and Marcus Smith each made two free-throws in the final 20 seconds.

The Trojans were 34.5 percent from the field (10-for-29) in the second-half, including 4-for-13 from the 3-point range (30.8 percent).  MMC was 10-for-27 (37 percent) and did not make a 3-pointer in eight attempts in final twenty minutes of the game.

John Lamb scored 13 points for the Trojans.  He was 3-for-5 from the 3-point arc.  Gordon, Jr. added 11 points.  Yusuf Vinson recorded a double-double of 10 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.  Luke Lamb had nine points.  Cameron Krump scored eight points.

Gordon, Jr. grabbed six rebounds for DSU.  He dished out six assists and stole the ball six times.  Luke Lamb had five rebounds.  John Lamb added four boards.

Austin Harms had a double-double of 12 points and recorded 12 rebounds for Mount Marty.  Alex Irvine had nine points off the bench.  Tyler Payer added eight points and had two assists.

The Lancers shot 44.9 percent overall from the field (22-for-49) compared to the Trojans’ 40.4 percent (23-for-57).  DSU was 6-for-23 from the 3-point line (26.1 percent), while MMC only made two 3-pointers in 15 attempts (13.3 percent).

Both teams struggled at the free-throw line, shooting below 60 percent.  DSU was 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) compared to MMC’s 9-for-20 (45 percent).

The Trojans had a slim rebounding advantage over the Lancers 37-36.