Monumental Comeback Falls Short for Men's Basketball

YANKTON, S.D. - Despite a valiant second-half comeback, the Doane men's basketball team fell just shy in an 83–82 thriller against Valley City State on Saturday afternoon at Cimpl Arena.

After a slow start, Doane found itself trailing 52–34 at halftime as the Vikings shot a blistering 72 percent from the field and connected on 7-of-10 from three-point range. However, the Tigers roared back after the break behind a red-hot shooting performance of their own, outscoring Valley City State 48–31 in the final 20 minutes.

Senior forward Jack Wilson powered Doane's comeback bid with a double-double, scoring 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while pulling down 11 rebounds and adding two steals. Casen Chaney contributed 19 points and six rebounds, while Justus Gardiner added 14 points, including a pair of clutch three-pointers that helped close the gap midway through the second half.

Trevon Beckman and Jonan Claussen also chipped in from deep, combining for five made threes and eight assists as Doane shot an impressive 52 percent from long range (13-for-25) for the game.

The Tigers cut the deficit to a single possession late, trimming the lead to one with under a minute to play, but a missed free throw and final defensive stop by the Vikings sealed the outcome.

Valley City State's JR Cison led all scorers with 26 points, knocking down six three-pointers, while Kaleb Larson added 14 points and Logan Deal dished out four assists for the Vikings, who improved to 3–0.

Doane (3–2) will look to build on the strong second-half performance when they return to action next week to take on Hesston (Kan.) on Tuesday, November 11. The Tigers look forward to hosting Hoops for Heroes, honoring military veterans on Veteran's Day.