DUBUQUE, IA: The Vikings took an early lead in their Valentines day showdown with the Pride of Clarke and they never looked back as they cruised to an 11 point win. Markell Hood led the Vikings with 21 points off of the bench with 9 of 11 shooting. A handful of other Vikings helped offensively as 4 players were in double figures and all 8 Vikings to play scored a basket in the 79-68 win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Vikings defense early on in the matchup helped spark the offense as a steal by Cecil Lee on the first possession would allow Jaxson Young to take over early connecting on a layup and then a 3 pointer on the next play before tipping in a missed three pointer to score the teams first 7 points and jump out to a 7-1 lead. Noah Hart would get in on the action around the 14 minute mark as he connected on back to back three pointers to help extend the lead to 13 points over the Pride. The Pride would piece together a short run that would see the led fall down to 7 with under 8 minutes to play in the first half before Kino Thompson sunk a three pointer and took a steal coast to coast to extend the lead back up to 12 points in under 30 seconds. Hart would hit the Vikings last jumper of the half with 80 seconds to play and help send the teams to the locker room with a 15 point Viking lead, 47-32. 

The second half would open up with both teams trading 3 pointers and an early Viking timeout to try and regroup 90 seconds into the 2nd half. This is where Hood would come alive as he collected 15 of his 21 points in the second half. He would help stretch the Vikings lead out to 22 points around the 14 minute mark before the Pride would start to claw back into the matchup as they forced a handful of turnovers that they were able to convert to points. But after the media timeout the game was in control for the Vikings as they began to milk the clock looking for the best possible shot and finding the open man as they collected 7 total assists on 13 made shots in the second half. With clean basketball down the stretch the Vikings were able to close out the win 79-68 without ever trailing in the game. 

GAME NOTES 

• Grand View dominated in the paint outscoring the Pride 44-28
• Jacob Koontz collected another double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds 
• Grand View shot 62.5% from the field in the first half 
• Forced 10 turnovers and collected 6 steals to help generate 8 fast break points

What's Next? 

The Vikings hit the road for another conference showdown with Benedictine College next week. The game is scheduled for Feb 21st at 7:30PM in Atchinson, KS.