DSU Basketball Takes On Viterbo

Dakota State Basketball hosted Viterbo University on Saturday afternoon, with the Women coming away with a thrilling double overtime victory and the Men falling short in regulation. 

The Lady T’s were able to rally from a 14 point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime versus the V-Hawks. DSU held an early advantage in the contest, but Viterbo used a 31 point second quarter to hold an eight point lead at halftime. The V-Hawks were never able to put away the Trojans in the second half but held command of the game until the final three minutes. Dakota State closed out the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run to tie the game at 75 all, Savannah Walsdorf came up with a steal and a transition bucket to knot the game. After another steal, DSU missed a three pointer and the game went into OT.

The first overtime was a quiet one, with both teams putting up five points. In the second overtime, the V-Hawks led 80-85 before a 7-2 scoring run tied the game at 87 all. Viterbo hit one of two free throws with 10 seconds left to take the one point lead. DSU turned to Morgan Koepsell who finished down low with 4.6 seconds left. After a timeout, Viterbo misplayed the inbounds as Sydney Fick came up with a steal and DSU ran out the clock. 

Koepsell came up big in both overtime periods and finished with 22 points, leading six DSU players in double digits. The win was the third straight for the Lady T’s, as they improved their record to 9-12 on the season (3-3 in conference play). 

The first half of the Men’s game saw both teams trading off scoring runs, DSU went up 26-17 with seven and a half minutes to go before Viterbo answered with a 16-6 run. A late three-pointer in the half game the V-Hawks a 41-38 lead. The first seven minutes of the second half were tight as well, then Viterbo again used a 16-6 run to take the lead up to 66-54. The Trojans battled back over the final six minutes and a Brady Van Holland three pointer with 31 seconds left pulled DSU within four points. 

Viterbo would score the final six points of the contest, picking up an 80-70 win on the road. Josh McGreal scored a career high 28 points to go along with six rebounds, Anthony Costello continued his fantastic play as he had 21 points and 17 rebounds (his sixth double double of the season). Viterbo shot 49 percent to Dakota State’s 46 percent in the contest and the Trojans were just 4 of 19 from downtown. DSU fell to 5-16 on the season and 1-5 in NSAA play.

DSU Basketball is back in action on Tuesday, hosting Presentation at the Fieldhouse. Women’s game is at 5:30pm with the men to follow, action can be heard on FM103 and amazingmadison.com.