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(NewsDakota.com) – The third time was the charm Saturday for Dakota State.

The Trojans knocked off Valley City State 58-53 during the semifinals of the men’s A.I.I. National Qualifying Tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center.

Dakota State earns an automatic bid into the National Tournament while Valley City State will have to wait to see if they earn an at-large bid when the 32-team field is announced on Wednesday. The Vikings (21-8) are ranked No. 23 in last week’s NAIA Top 25 poll and are firmly on the bubble.

Dakota State (21-9) will play in the A.I.I. championship Sunday at 4:30 p.m. after beating Valley City State for the first time this season. They had lost to VCSU twice earlier this season.

Dakota State started slow as Valley City State took a 13-4 lead midway through the first half and led 23-19 at halftime. The Trojans opened the second half on a 10-3 run to take their first lead of the game and it was back and forth most of the second half.

Tied at 47, Dakota State gained the lead for good on a Luke Lamb 3-pointer with 4:50 remaining. Yusuf Vinson followed with a jumper to put Dakota State up five. A layup by

VCSU’s John Raquel got VCSU within 56-53 with 1:20 remaining, but Raquel missed two free throws with 29 seconds left that could have pulled the Vikings within one and Dakota State held on in the final seconds.

The Vikings were just 7-for-16 on free throws. They were led by 10 points each from AJ McDonald and Aaron Duske. VCSU’s leading scorer Sekani Milligen was held to just eigh points. Raquel had nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals for Valley City State.

Dakota State was led by 13 points each from Luke Lamb and John Lamb. Cameron Krump added 12 off the bench.