Both Missouri Valley Viking basketball teams have secured berths in the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament. The men needed an 85-75 victory over Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Burns Athletic Complex to clinch the final spot in the tournament, while the women secured their first home tournament game in 30 years with an 85-78 victory.
The Viking men recorded the first six points of the game, but a seven-point run by the Wildcats gave Culver-Stockton their only lead of the contest. The Vikings retook the lead with a Dylan Driver jump shot, and timely free-throws late in the opening half allowed Missouri Valley to take a six-point lead into the locker room at intermission. Valley also claimed the first six points of the second half, gradually wearing down a Wildcat squad heavily reliant on Connor Davis.
Davis played all 40 minutes and scored 29 points, including three treys, to lead all scorers. All five Viking starters posted double figures, with Cawhan Smith leading the way with 17 points. Keenan Jones added 15, and Dylan Driver came off the bench to also finish in double figures, with 10 points. The Vikings are now 12-16 overall, 11-13 in the conference, and will visit top-seeded Baker on Wednesday evening to open the conference tournament.
Earlier in the women’s game, D’Ajha Horton posted a season-high 25 points to lead MoValley to the win. The contest began with a back-and-forth effort, as Culver-Stockton led several times, but only by a couple points. The Vikings took the lead for good halfway through the second quarter when Gia Moore claimed a three-point basket, helping to build a seven-point lead at the half. The Vikings relied on a tranche of baskets from distance, as Moore and Ylenia Exposito each had four from behind the arc, while Horton added three and Maleigha Landers and Jozelynn Bostick each had a three-pointer. Valley as a whole shot 49 percent from the field, compared to 46 percent for the Wildcats.
Horton was one of three players in double figures for the Vikings, as Exposito posted 17 and Moore added 16. Avery Oetting had 17 points to lead Culver-Stockton, while a pair of Wildcats added 16 apiece. The Vikings wrap up the regular season 22-6, with an 18-6 mark in the conference. As the four-seed, they’ll host Mount Mercy on Tuesday night, with tipoff at 7 p.m.