Sagan Osborne | Dickinson State Sports Information Director
DICKINSON – John Evans exploded for a season-high 28 points on 10-15 shooting and Dickinson State cruised to an 86-56 victory over Valley City State to close out the 2022-2023 regular season in Scott Gym on Thursday night.
Gus Wright chipped in 18 points off the bench and pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds while Christian Murphy dropped in 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Dickinson State shot 50 percent (36-72) for the game and outrebounded the Vikings 51-37 in the dominating effort.
After a tight first half that saw the Blue Hawks take a 38-31 lead into the locker room, DSU exploded for 48 points in the second half and held VCSU to just 25 to run away with the victory. With the win the Blue Hawks finish the season in a tie for second in the North Star Athletic Association standings with Viterbo University. DSU will enter the conference tournament as the third seed due to their 0-2 record against the V-Hawks this season.
Both teams took good care of the ball, with DSU turning it over 14 times and VCSU 12, but DSU collected 22 assists to just 2 for the Vikings highlighting the huge difference between the teams on the night.
"I'm so proud of our team," said head coach Derek Selvig. "We've been so up and down this year, and its all because of youth, but when we these guys lock in they are really tough to beat. Our defense was the key tonight. I'm just so proud of every player in the program. Our JV team busts their butts every day to give us a good look, and our varsity is starting to stay consistent. New season now though, we're 0-0. We are going to have our work cut out for us. We need everyone to pack Scott Gym Tuesday night!"
WHATS NEXT
The Blue Hawks will host 6-seed Dakota in the North Star Athletic Association Conference Tournament Opening Round next Tuesday, February 21, at 7:00 pm MT in Scott Gym.
