Blue Hawk men take down Jamestown in overtime thriller

GAME PHOTOS

Dickinson, N.D. – In one of the wildest Dickinson State basketball games in recent memory, the Blue Hawks got 21 points and 15 rebounds from Kose Egbule and 18 points from Trey Stevens to take down the University of Jamestown, who got a 38-point, 9-rebound performance from Silas Bennion off the bench, 87-82, in overtime.

Dickinson State (2-2) came out of the gate on fire, racing out to a 7-0 run in the first two and a half minutes of the game. The lead grew from there as a 19-1 run gave the Blue Hawks a 31-9 lead with nine minutes to go in the half. The 22-point cushion held until just under seven minutes remained in the first frame, but the script flipped abruptly, as Jamestown used a huge scoring run of their own, this one 18-4, to close the gap and make it 37-31 DSU at the break.

Jamestown scored the first basket out of the break, but the Blue Hawks responded with a quick 10-2 run to push the lead back to 12 with 17 minutes left in the game. It was a game of runs, as another shortly followed, this time from Jamestown as they took their first lead of the contest, 56-54, with 11 minutes to go.

The Jimmies led by as many as four, but DSU pushed right back, regaining the lead on a bucket by Egbule with 9 minutes left in regulation. The Blue Hawks then stretched their lead back to eight, 68-60, on John Evans first basket of the game, but again the Jimmies answered, going on a 10-0 run to take a 70-68 lead with 2:43 left to go.

Despite not scoring for the first 35 minutes of the game, Evans knocked down the biggest shot of the night at that point for DSU when he connected from the top of the arc to give the Blue Hawks a 71-70 lead with just over a minute to play as the lead changed hands yet again.

After Evans' three put DSU in front, a pair of free throws from UJ changed the lead once again, but Egbule was fouled at the rim on the next Blue Hawk possession. With a chance to take the lead with 47 seconds remaining he connected on just one of two to keep the game tied at 72-72.

Dickinson State had multiple chances to pull away late in regulation, but troubles at the free throw line loomed large. The Blue Hawks finished just 23-35 (66 percent) on the night compared to 85 percent from the visitors.

DSU played great defense on the ensuing UJ possession, but a deep three that missed wide ended up bouncing off a DSU player and out of bounds granting Jamestown a chance to win it at the buzzer. Instead, the Jimmies were called for a travel on a hand off at the elbow and DSU was granted the chance for victory. The Blue Hawks got a decent look as time expired, but an Aidan Fishell three ball missed just wide as the game was headed for overtime.

In overtime, Jamestown jumped out to a quick lead, but 6 DSU free throws gave the Blue Hawks a 78-76 lead and they never trailed again, as Stevens went 5-7 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.

"I'm super proud of our guys tonight," said head coach Derek Selvig. "They weathered everything that Jamestown threw at them. It was just a very gutsy performance. It's great finding lessons in games that you end up winning. Jamestown is a great team that is very well coached."

Dickinson State shot 43 percent from the field on the night as Stinson (10 points and 7 rebounds) and Gus Wright (15 points and 8 rebounds) joined Egbule and Stevens in double figures. Evans was the only DSU starter not in double figures, but he finished with 9 big points and four rebounds on the night.