Men’s Basketball Opens the Season with a 121-78 Victory – Valley City State University

Valley City N.D. – Six Vikings scored in double figures in VCSU’s season opening 121-78 victory over the Brandon University Bobcats.
 
Senior Lemar Grayson led the team with a 22-point performance efficiently making 8-11 field goals and 6-8 free throws. He also led the team with 4 steals.
 
Grayson was followed by number two Tyrel Creger who put up an impressive 21 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 3-for-6 from the three-point line. Other Vikings in with double digits were Odier Olange (13), off the bench Shaheed Muhammad (15), Jayden Patcha (14), and Genesis Kemp (11).
 
The game opened with a clean steady pace where the Vikings and Bobcats matched each other’s threes to start the game. A few baskets later with the score of 10-10, Tyrel Creger buried two threes in a row, opening the lead to 16-10 where the Vikings hit the gas and comfortably held around a ten-point lead until halftime.
 
In the second half the Vikings got off to a hot start expanding their lead to 21 with a score of 85-64. The Vikings capitalized on Bobcat turnovers showing off their athleticism with a few dunks and strong fast break finishes. From there they held a lead of 20 plus for the remainder of the game.
 
As a team the Vikings shot 49 of 80, 61 percent from the field and 14 of 19, 74 percent from the line. They had 11 turn overs compared to the Bobcats 24 and out rebounded the Bobcats 42-27.
 
Valley City State moves to 1-0 on the season. The Vikings and Bobcats will play again tomorrow at 2 p.m. inside VCSU’s W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.