Injured Trojans Fall to Mayville Comets

It was a tough weekend for Dakota State men’s basketball team who fell short to the Mayville Comets on Sunday. Originally, the team was set to host Mayville on Friday and Presentation on Saturday, but due to the weekend storm, the Trojans were only able to get in the game against Mayville.

The Dakota State Trojans were down a number of players for the game due to illness and injury. Among those not playing were Josh McGreal, Gare Ewefada, Cole Bruhn, and Gavin Schipper, all of whom have played valuable minutes for the Trojans as of late. The Trojans were left with only eight people dressed on the bench. Despite the lack of players, the Trojans put up a good fight against the Comets but ultimately fell short with a final score of 78-68.

The Trojans opened up the game with a 5-0 lead and fought right alongside Mayville throughout the first half despite only rotating through six players. It was a back and forth first half with six lead changes. The Comets went into the locker room up 37-34. The Trojans were able to stay competitive with their hot shooting. They shot 53.6 percent from the field compared to the Comet’s 42.9 percent.

However, the second half would go to Mayville. They were able to open the quarter going 9 of 10 which helped to set up a 22-4 scoring rally. This would give them a 59-38 lead with 14:21 left in the game. The Comets were able to extend their lead even further making the score 68-45 with 10:12 remaining, their biggest lead of the night. Dakota State would never fully recover. They made a late-game run to better the score at 78-68, but the win would go to Mayville.

The Trojans were led by sophomore Anthony Costello. He had a career-high 38 points and went 18-of-31 from the field. Brady Van Holland also finished with 12 points for the Trojans. Sawyer Koch finished with 8 points along with 5 rebounds. Brady Elder had seven points and four assists.

Dakota State will return to action this weekend for another pair of conference games. The will host Waldorf on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Viterbo on Saturday at 5 p.m. Hopefully the Trojans can revive themselves and get a couple of conference wins. They’ll look to improve on their 1-3 North Star Conference record. Good luck and go Trojans!