Coming off a win at Seminole State on Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Vikings returned home to take on the Paris Dragons on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Vikings came up short on the scoreboard, losing 66-51.
Paris jumped out to a 5-0 lead early on, but Marcus Burnett quickly answered with a three pointer, to draw within 5-3. The Viking defense was stifling early on, not allowing Paris to get much going offensively. Nicholas Anthony gave the Vikings their first lead at 6-5 with a three of his own. The teams went back and forth for the next several minutes, Paris took the lead, but Nick Gunter followed with a dunk for an 8-7 lead.
Paris began to heat up, scoring six of the next eight points for a 13-8 lead, but Kevin Paul Jr kept the Vikings close, hitting a short jumper in the lane to pull within 13-10.
Paris went on a 9-2 scoring run, but the Vikings continued battling, getting a reverse layup from Terrance Ramirez to pull within 10. Free throws from Gunter a few possessions later, got the Vikings within seven, but Paris closed the half on a 17-6 run, putting the Vikings in a 39-21 hole at the half.
Jayden Garces started the second half with a three pointer, and the Viking defense forced a shot clock violation a few possessions later, and Ramirez finished the layup for Grayson at the other end, to bring the Vikings within 41-26.
The Vikings continued playing hard, working on both ends of the floor, and continued to cut into the Paris lead. Anthony hit a three to bring them within 53-41 with nine minutes to play in the game, but could not pull any closer, as Paris took the victory.
Ramirez led the team in scoring with 15 points, while Anthony and Gunter both had eight points off the bench. Croix Cox was a force on the glass, pulling down 12 rebounds (five offensive)
The loss puts the Vikings at 3-3 on the young season.
They will hit the road on Monday, Nov. 18 as they travel to take on Eastern Oklahoma State College. Eastern is coming off a win against the Oklahoma Wesleyan JV team, and they sit at 4-1 on the year.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.