Bedgood sparks big second half in VCSU victory
VALLEY CITY – Cleveland Bedgood made six 3's and scored a season-high 26 points Saturday as the Valley City State men's basketball team picked up a much-needed conference victory.
Bedgood made five of his 3's in the second half as the Vikings rallied for an 87-77 win against Waldorf University. Waldorf led 43-38 at the break before VCSU outscored the Warriors 4934 over the final 20 minutes.
Valley City State improves to 9-10 overall and is now 2-3 in conference play. The win snaps a 3-game losing streak in the NSAA. Waldorf drops to 5-12 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
Noah Miller made three first-half 3's for Waldorf as the Warriors led most of the first half and took a 43-38 lead into the locker room. Waldorf had its last lead of the game at 46-43 on a Justin Wiggins 3's early in the second half. From there, it was all Vikings. A 3 by VCSU's Tate Hebrink tied the game and Joseph Owens scored back-to-back baskets to give the Vikings a 50-46 lead with 13:28 to go.
Then, it was Bedgood and Edmon Paul Oyet's turn to take over the offense. The pair combined to score 25 of VCSU's next 27 points – including four 3's by Bedgood – as the Vikings ballooned their lead from 50-46 to 7760 with 5:20 remaining. Waldorf would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
After forcing just five turnovers in the first half, VCSU's defense created 11 second-half turnovers to help quite Waldorf's offense. Viking guard Duoth Gach finished with six steals in the game.
Bedgood shot 9-for-11 overall and 6-for-7 on 3's as he poured in a season-high 26 points and dished out four assists.
"He's starting to reach his potential for us," said VCSU head coach Ryan Montgomery. "He's a very talented offensive basketball player, and having him off the bench as another offensive punch for us is going to be great down the stretch."
Hunter Lyman posted a double-double inside with 16 points and 10 rebounds, continuing his strong play as of late. Lyman has scored double figures in each of the last seven games and is averaging 14 points and seven rebounds per game during the stretch, while also shooting 69 percent.
"He's a ball hawk," said Montgomery. "He's always constantly around the ball. He's always hunting rebounds, and every team needs a guy that rebounds at a high level. He's been very consistent for us over the last month."
Owens added 12 points off the bench for VCSU, and Oyet had 11 points and four rebounds.
The Vikings shot 61 percent overall (30-49), 62 percent on 3's (8-13) and 83 percent at the line (19-23). Waldorf finished the game at 43 percent overall (28-65), 48 percent on 3's (1429) and 58 percent at the line (7-12).
Khyle Washington posted a triple-double to lead Waldorf, finishing with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Noah Miller scored a team-high 16 points for the Warriors, while Wiggins added 14 points.
Up next: Valley City State is back on the road next weekend, playing games Jan. 20- 21 at Presentation College and Mayville State.