Trojans Win Against Presentation College

           The Dakota State University men’s basketball team took on the Presentation College Saints on Saturday January 21^st in an NSAA matchup at the DSU Fieldhouse. It was a close contest all the way, in a game that would turn into an overtime thriller ending in a Trojans’ win. With just 25 seconds left and Trojans’ guard Ian Barse at the free throw line, DSU trailed by a score of 82-76. After making the first free throw, Barse missed the second, but the ball was rebounded by DSU’s Justin Folkers and put back in for a score, cutting the lead to 82-79. The Trojans were then forced to foul Presentation’s Aaron Samuels, who missed the front end of his one-and-one, giving the Trojans the ball back. That gave DSU’s Tanner Heiser a chance to come down the court and hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go, tying the score at 82. After the Trojans stopped the Saints on their next possession, the game was forced into overtime.

                The overtime period proved to be just as thrilling as the end of regulation. Neither team was able to pull ahead with a clear advantage, and the game came all the way down to the last possession. Senior guard Tanner Heiser again came up big for the Trojans as he drove to the free-throw line, stopped and pump faked, causing his defender to jump past him, and nailed his shot with just 00.8 seconds left on the clock. Presentation then took their final time out to set up one last chance to get a score. DSU’s defense was able to hold strong, stopping the Saints’ desperate attempt for a game winning shot, and were able to come out with the win by a score of 99-97.

                The Trojans had five different players in double-digit scoring, and were led by senior forward Kyle Kilgore, who racked up 24 points on 9 of 11 attempts from the field. Following Kilgore was Tanner Heiser with 19. Kevin Daniels was able to put 17 points up on the board. Ian Barse also added 15 points of his own, again showing his range from three point territory, going 4 of 7 from behind the arc. Justin Folkers chipped in 12 points. Kilgore and Bobby Farquah each pulled down 6 rebounds for the Trojans. Tanner Heiser was able to find teammates for 8 assists.

                The Saints were led in scoring by Donnell Minton, who went 10 for 16 shooting for 32 points on the night, followed by Elijah Valdez who put up 26 points including going 6 for 11 from behind the 3 point line. Marcus Gatlin pulled down 7 rebounds. Minton also led the team in assists with 5.