Just enough: Hansen, Ackelson nail free throws in win over Mayville State
Whew. That was close.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Brock Boos
Whew. That was close.
The Dickinson State men’s basketball team had as much as a 19-point lead in the first half. But Mayville State didn’t come to back down.
Blue Hawks’ senior forward Jarek Hansen drained six consecutive free throws in the final two minutes to stave off Mayville 65-59 during the Sam Milanovich Classic on Friday at Scott Gymnasium.
“We really had some guys play well the whole game,” DSU head coach Ty Orton said. “It seems like people are playing great the whole game. They are playing great in spurts.
“We talked about putting our foot on the gas all day. If you are up, keep going, keep pushing the pedal down.”
DSU held a 36-25 lead at halftime and that’s when the Comets started chipping away. For a majority of the second half, the Blue Hawks contained a comfortable double-digit lead.
That was until about five minutes left when Mayville went on a 3-point- and steal-frenzy. The Comets’ (3-3) main cog in the offensive wheel was Austin Emerson. The senior guard went 5 of 10 from 3-point range and finished with 20 points off the bench.
“Austin makes big shots for us,” Mayville head coach Dan DeWitt said. “He’s a good shooter.”
Mayville got within one point, 57-56, but that’s when DSU made its free throws down the stretch. Hansen and Ty Ackelson teamed up to make eight free throws in the final two minutes. Hansen and Ackelson each finished with 10 points, while Brock Boos and Johnie Sanders each had eight.
“I think we started playing the scoreboard,” Orton said. “We had some young guys and Mayville isn’t going to stop. They play hard every single possession.”
One of the more impressive spots from the DSU team was the scoring from the bench. The bench scored 38 points as Phillip Johnson Jr. led with 11 points.
“Everybody that came off the bench produced,” Johnson said. “They listened to the coach and that’s what really helped.”
The Blue Hawks held a slight advantage in every single category including rebounds, assists, turnovers, steals and fouls. DSU had 14 fouls, while Mayville had 26. This allowed the Blue Hawks to shoot 23 of 36 from the line.
In the first half, DSU took 25-13 lead with 20 of those points coming from players who started the game on the bench. Ackelson went 2 of 2 from 3-point range and Boos went 2 of 3.
“They shot the ball well,” Orton said. “The inside-out game and everybody played team basketball through a majority of the night.”
Steve Ivory Jr. was the only other Comet to finish in double figures, scoring points 14. Sam Hyman supplied nine.
“We played out of desperation,” DeWitt said. “We played with a sense of urgency and that will get you back into those games. We really had no other choice, but to turn up the heat.”
DSU was also without its preseason all-Frontier Conference selection Matt Lee for the entire second half. Lee, who is a senior from Odgen, Utah, tweaked his knee and his back and is questionable to play when the Blue Hawks conclude the Milanovich Classic against Valley City State at 7 p.m. today.
“Valley is really good,” Orton said. “We’re injured right now and we don’t know what’s going to happen (today), but we’ve got to get better.”
Mayville State (3-3): Cody Coauette 1-3 0-0 2, Adam Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Hyman 4-8 1-1 9, Steve Ivory Jr. 7-11 0-3 14, Matt Bauduin 2-4 0-0 6, Andrew Berge 0-0 2-2 2, James Herr 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Lindsay 1-3 0-1 2, Austin Emerson 7-15 1-2 20, Dan Diaz 0-3 0-0 0, Dexter Elliot 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 24-51 4-9 59.
Dickinson State (2-3): Jarek Hansen 1-8 8-8 10, Matthew Lee 1-1 0-0 2, Ty Ackelson 3-3 2-6 10, Robbie Morey 1-2 3-4 5, John Hanstad 0-4 0-0 0, Anthony Hodges 0-3 3-4 3, Ryan Sullivan 1-2 2-4 4, Johnie Sanders 3-5 2-2 8, James Hayden 1-1 2-2 4, Brock Boos 3-5 0-0 8, Isiah Thomas 0-0 0-2 0, Phillip Johnson Jr. 5-10 1-4 11, Tevin Russell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 19-46 23-36 65.
Halftime: Score DSU 36, MSU 25. Total fouls: MSU 26, DSU 14. Fouled out: MSU, Hyman, Lindsay. 3-point goals: MSU 7-21 (Emerson 5-10, Bauduin 2-3, Hyman 0-2, Lindsay 0-2, Diaz 0-2, Coauette 0-1, Edwards 0-1), DSU 4-11 (Boos 2-3, Ackelson 2-2, Russell 0-1, Hodges 0-1, Hanstad 0-3, Hansen 0-1). Rebounds: MSU 30 (Ivory 5), DSU 33 (Johnson 6). Assists: MSU 5 (Coauette 2), DSU 7 (Hanstad 3). Steals: MSU 8 (Coauette 3), DSU 12 (Sanders 3). Blocks: MSU 2 (Lindsay 2), DSU 1 (Hansen 1). Turnovers: MSU 22 (Ivory 5), DSU 18 (Hayden 4).
Tags: college basketball, blue hawks, sports
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